This Mess We're In
by Volpa
Summary: Kagome's back in the present, and she's about to meet a guy named Sesshou. What happened in Sengoku Jidai? Neither of them know yet, either. 2 stories in 1, present and past. KagSess. Diverge. updated Mar16.04.
1. Prologue: The City Sun Set Over Me

This Mess We're In  
  
Prologue: The City Sun Set Over Me  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing.  
  
Rating: PG 13 for now, but will probably be changed to R or NC17 later on.  
  
Summary: Kagome has gone back where she belongs, but so has someone else. What exactly happened? They don't know yet either. K/Sess.  
  
*****  
  
In the hills beyond the Higurashi Shrine, the sun was setting.  
  
Kagome turned towards the sky's red glow and cursed as she wiped sweat from her damp brow. "Shit," she groaned. She held her waist-length hair off her neck with one raised hand, praying for a breeze. "I still have to get my lab report finished before tomorrow's lecture. I haven't even finished cleaning the grounds yet." Her baleful glare fell on the plant debris littering the stone pavement surrounding the shrine, and she blinked in confusion as her vision blurred.  
  
"And I desperately need to sleep," she muttered. It was her own fault; she hadn't really been on top of things lately. Who would have thought that slacking off in her coursework and procrastinating on the household chores could lead to something so awful?  
  
Souta's head poked out of the door of the Higurashi home, investigating the source of those strange groaning and muttering noises. His eyebrows shot up as he noted the dark circles around his sister's eyes, and the way she was using the dangerously tilting broom to support all her weight.  
  
"Hey! Kagome, are you going to pass out standing up or something?" Souta asked. His clear young voice penetrated the dense fog that had been settling in Kagome's head. She straightened, lucid once more.  
  
"Whuh? Souta?"  
  
Souta shook his head with his fists on his hips. "You don't look so good. Mama!" Souta turned towards the woman who was approaching the door.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi took a good, long look at her daughter, who at the moment looked far older than her nineteen years. "Kagome. . . are you okay?" Kagome nodded wearily, but the droop of her shoulders and the slight sway of her body gave her prevarication away.  
  
"Kagome, get into the house. You are going to eat something." Mrs. Higurashi hadn't seen Kagome eat much in the past week, and had assumed that she was buying food at school and having her usual snacks at home. Looking at her now, though, she wasn't so sure. "Then you're going to go straight to bed. Are you getting sick?"  
  
"No, mama. I don't think so. I'm just so ti-" Kagome yawned so widely that her jaw hurt.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome took a bath, ate a few bites of food, and did as much of her lab report as her bleary eyes would allow. Finally, she collapsed into her bed with a sigh. Sleep claimed her in seconds, but she twisted and turned. Dreams she would not remember in the morning kept her restless throughout the night.  
  
A few blocks away, a young man with silver hair murmured something under his breath and twisted onto his side, his brows drawn as though in some remembered pain.  
  
Nineteen years before, a man in Tokyo opened his door to find a newborn, naked baby boy lying on the rain-drenched concrete of his doorstep.  
  
Hundreds of years before, another Kagome smiled, relaxed into the arms of a youkai, and slept.  
  
And in a place where time does not exist, a creature awakens, opens its jaws, and howls.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note: Soundtrack available for subsequent chapters. Head to my website for song list and downloads. The address is:  
  
www33.brinkster.com/volpa/tmwi/ 


	2. 1 I Dream

This Mess We're In  
  
1: I Dream. . .  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing but this shiny nickel. And, oh! I found a penny.  
  
Rating: PG 13 for now, but will probably be changed to R or NC17 later on  
  
Summary: Kagome has gone back where she belongs, but so has someone else. What exactly happened? They don't know yet either. K/Sess.  
  
*****  
  
A young man of nineteen sat up in bed with a start. His eyes narrowed with fatigue and confusion as he ran a shaking hand through his pale, mussed hair. It had been a little more than a week since these dreams had begun to disrupt his nightly rest.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" Sesshou asked himself slowly.  
  
At first, it had been a fun oddity. He had enjoyed the disjointed and fantastic images. He'd had dreams of flying over a land untouched by industry, dreams in which he had run impossibly quickly through fields and forests that were a deeper green than he had ever seen.  
  
Ever since he had been a child, he remembered entering another world when he left consciousness.  
  
Lately, however, things were getting out of hand. The pictures were becoming more vivid and more brutal. Rather than wandering a world populated with wonderful creatures, his dreams were tainted with blood and pain. Even now, in his mind's eye he could see a group of terrified humans - he shook his head. Humans? People. He saw a clawed hand flashing through strange monsters, cutting them cleanly in half, and heard their dying cries. . .  
  
As he calmly wiped black blood off his striped wrist.  
  
He raised his hand before his face and examined his forearm. The grey light of the coming morning was extending its arms into his room, falling in streaks across his skin as he examined it. No stripes. No claws.  
  
No sanity.  
  
"I'm losing it," he murmured. He heard an echo of his dream, the carefree, unselfconscious sound of a girl laughing, and couldn't restrain his own soft chuckle.  
  
When had a girl appeared in his dreams? He couldn't remember.  
  
"Even fictional dream people mock me," he sighed, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He shut his eyes once more and lay back on his futon.  
  
The air of breaking day was cool on his bare chest. He must have lost his covers at some time in the night.  
  
Sesshou had a strange feeling that it was not the only thing he'd lost.  
  
Before he thought any more about it, the harsh beeping of his alarm clock broke the sleepy silence of his room, and the world came to life.  
  
**********  
  
Day intruded on Kagome slowly. She gradually became aware of a muffled sound assaulting her eardrums.  
  
"Gnna. . .o. . . me. Ooga. . .tup."  
  
She lifted her eyelids one millimeter. What on earth? Thankfully, no light greeted her squinted eyes. There was still time to sleep. Now if only that moaning troll would get out of her room and leave her alone. . .  
  
"O. . . me! Ate. . . ool!"  
  
It seemed that he was becoming increasingly angered. Kagome burrowed her way deeper into the warm haven of her bed.  
  
Suddenly, she was blinded as the pillow she'd wrapped around her head was wrenched free. . . by a small troll named Souta.  
  
"Kagome! You gotta get up! You'll be late for school!"  
  
"Blearrrgh," she replied in a reasonable tone. "Tell mom I'll be right up." She stretched, yawning, and shooed Souta out of her room. As soon as he was gone, she flopped bonelessly back onto her pillow.  
  
"Kagome," Souta said suspiciously from her door. "Mama's making breakfast."  
  
She sighed regretfully, picked herself up, and walked towards the bathroom under Souta's watchful eye.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshou emerged from the shower, toweling his wet hair as he moved towards the sink. He wrapped the towel around his waist, and squinted briefly at his reflection in the fogged mirror. Turning the faucet on, he watched the water swirl down the drain for a moment before he reached for his toothbrush and toothpaste.  
  
He was still so tired. The dreams he'd been having were intense and draining. Were they normal? They seemed a bit too consistent to be mere mental noise. Each, night, he found himself in the same environment, and in similar situations. He thought speculatively about the attire he had been wearing. The clothing was strange to him, but always the same.  
  
It was fruitless to think about it, anyway. Sesshou shook his head and yawned. What good would it do? Tonight, he'd try to work out until he was exhausted. Maybe that would ensure a good night's rest.  
  
Forcibly clearing his thoughts, Sesshou rinsed his toothbrush and opened the mirrored medicine cabinet to get his comb. He absently wiped the condensation from the mirror, combing his hair neatly. For now, it was obedient, but he knew from experience that when it dried it would pop right back up into messy spikes.  
  
He went into his bedroom to get dressed.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome finished off her miso soup and rice before checking her watch. Damn it, she had to leave now or her lab report would be late. She thanked her mother, grabbed her bag and headed towards the door, checking her reflection in the mirror. She frowned to see the shadows under her eyes that bore witness to her lack of rest. She stepped into her shoes.  
  
"Mama! Souta! Grandpa! I'm heading off!"  
  
Mrs. Higurashi smiled and watched her daughter run out of the shrine gate. "Have a good day, Kagome!"  
  
Kagome's grandfather entered the kitchen. "Did she sleep last night?" he asked.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi's smile faded. "She did. Not that it seems to have done much good. She still seems so drawn."  
  
The old man sat down at the table. "She still hasn't mentioned what happened to her before she came back?" His tone was serious, and filled with curiosity.  
  
Kagome's mother bowed her head. "No. I don't think that she can recall. And remember, when you asked after we found her? She just seemed so upset and confused, and it didn't even seem like she knew why. . ."  
  
Mrs. Higurashi's eyes darkened with worry.  
  
Grandpa looked at the table thoughtfully for a moment, before beginning his breakfast. Maybe, he thought, we should ask her again. Granddaughter, what happened to you?  
  
**********  
  
Sesshou crossed the street quickly, hurrying towards the college campus. The heat of the morning sun was starting to settle over the concrete and stone of the city, but he rarely noticed such things. He wore a dark sweater and pants, oblivious to the temperature.  
  
He looked up at the trees along this stretch of the sidewalk. He always enjoyed walking by this shrine complex. It seemed very old, and very peaceful. He slowed his pace slightly, and looked up at the blue sky.  
  
And then someone tiny rushed into him, bounced off, and landed ignominiously on the pavement.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
**********  
  
Kagome looked up from her undignified position, her face turning red.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry! It's just that I was late and then I was rushing, and then I had to check in my bag to make sure my paper is in there, because I have to turn it in today, and it would be so like me to just leave it on my desk-"  
  
The guy she'd run into smiled faintly at her babbling, and reached a hand down to help her up. She took it gratefully and rose to her feet.  
  
"Thanks. And, I'm really sorry. I should really watch where I'm going."  
  
"No need to apologize. After all, you're the one who ended up knocked over. Maybe I should say sorry for being in your way."  
  
Hearing his voice, she stopped checking her clothes for dirt and turned to see his face, and her eyes widened.  
  
His hair, almost white, rose around his face like flames, but also looked impossibly soft. She noted that his eyes were very unusual in color, a whiskey brown that was almost amber. He had a strong jawline and a nice mouth, which was at the moment quirked up slightly in a wry grin.  
  
"Apology accepted," Kagome replied, distracted. It was then that she noticed how exhausted he looked. Perhaps he was as exhausted as she was.  
  
He picked her bag up off the sidewalk, and handed it to her. She saw his eyes narrow slightly as his gaze settled on her face. Then they flared. . . yellow?  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
It was almost inaudible, and the cool tone of voice changed into something approaching confusion.  
  
"Yeah," she replied absently. Checking her watch again, Kagome's eyes widened. That hour hand was getting dangerously close to eight. "Oh, damn it. I have to run. Um, thanks."  
  
"Wait just a second-" Sesshou stared after the girl in shock, his arm outstretched. He knew her name. How did he know her name?!  
  
He caught sight of his wrist. The sleeve of his sweater had risen over his forearm when he had reached out to stop her, and now he stood frozen again, for a completely different reason.  
  
Twined around his forearm were two magenta stripes, fading with each passing second.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" he asked himself, for the second time that morning.  
  
***********  
  
Kagome sat in the lecture hall, dutifully taking notes as fast as she could. The professor's voice was starting to sound like a low hum.  
  
Snap out of it, she thought to herself. She was lucky that the community college had accepted her, with her patchy attendance record from high school and her patchier transcript. She had apparently been sick a lot.  
  
Her mind started to wander.  
  
"Blah blah protein chains. . . blah, blah, amino acids,"  
  
Golden eyes, a low, calm voice saying her name. . .  
  
Kagome suddenly sat bolt upright, startling the students next to her.  
  
"How on earth did that guy know my name?" Kagome whispered in shock.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note: This is my first fic. Now that I'm writing it, I kind of wish I'd chosen a simple idea to start with, since this is going to drive me mad! Anyway, I have to figure out a way to have two plots in two timelines without being too hard to follow.  
  
Anyway, thanks to the people who have left encouraging comments for me. It's really appreciated. 


	3. 2 You Met Me

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 2: You Met Me  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing. Sometimes, I cry.  
  
Rating: PG 13 for now, but will probably be changed to R or NC17 later on.  
  
Story Summary: Kagome has gone back where she belongs, but so has someone else. What exactly happened? They don't know yet either. K/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: The first of the flashbacks to the Sengoku Jidai. Kagome is running scared. Sesshoumaru does something that absolutely terrifies our young heroine. Edited and reposted.  
  
*****  
  
---Sengoku Jidai---  
  
What a day she'd had.  
  
Kagome limped blindly through the scratchy underbrush of the darkened woods, with only her bow and a few arrows. There wasn't a single sound in the forest. The silence only augmented the feeling that she was utterly alone.  
  
For the first time since she had fallen through the well into this frightening, foreign era, she truly was alone.  
  
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she would not let them fall.  
  
"I will NOT. I categorically refuse. I'm not going to cry over that completely unfair, ignorant, insensitive. . ." she choked out in a whisper, lifting her chin in defiance. Something stronger than steel shone behind the tears in her eyes.  
  
"I won't. I'm tough. I can do this."  
  
The worst part of the whole situation was that she could understand Inuyasha's rage. Two years of collecting the shards, one by one, with so many injuries and disasters to show for it. Two years, that she had just poured down the drain. Two hard years had gone by, and they had nothing to show for them but scars.  
  
It wasn't as though she wanted to spend more precious years of her (extremely short, according to Inuyasha) human life playing 'Find the Shard,' the most hazardous and annoying game ever created.  
  
Why couldn't he even attempt to understand her reasons? Even if he couldn't agree with them, it was the least he could do. She would have tried, in his position.  
  
But I was starting to love him, she thought. That was the difference.  
  
Obviously, it was not mutual.  
  
Tonight, for the first time, she had truly understood what her appointed duty was as the guardian of the jewel. She could sympathize with pre-zombie Kikyou. Her confidence that she had done the right thing, however, was a hollow feeling compared to the sacrifice she'd made tonight. Now that her anger had ceased to propel her, she was forced to rely on her rapidly dwindling physical reserves.  
  
As an added bonus, the forest was becoming spooky as hell. She hadn't realized how much she relied on her companions' jokes and bickering to distract her from the knowledge that, in this era, there really were monsters in the shadows. Without the buffer of friendly conversation, she felt a tingle of foreboding. Despite her emotional and physical exhaustion, her senses were sharper than they had ever been. Paranoia was a great stimulant.  
  
Suddenly, she heard something that would have sounded like the wind in the trees to anyone else. But she was Kagome, and she knew that that soft whoosh in the utter absence of natural wind could only mean one thing. She was being followed.  
  
Crap. Crap, crap, crap, CRAP! Kagome's thoughts seemed to go in circles. Not NOW!  
  
She whirled, her arrow notched and aimed.  
  
At nothing.  
  
The next thing she knew, her bow had been wrenched from her grasp, tossed aside, and she was sprawled on the ground with an excellent view of a shoe belonging to the Lord of the Western Lands.  
  
She'd hoped that, after he had just tossed away the shikon shard he'd owned as if it were worthless, she would never have to encounter him again. He'd expressed the same wish, saying something along the lines of "I, Sesshoumaru, blah blah lord of blah, no longer require blah blah since my arm has regenerated. Blah blah leave my sight blah lowly hanyou blah."  
  
Or something along those lines.  
  
"Oh, crap," she moaned, rubbing her side. Her thigh was beginning to throb. "I hope you didn't break the arrow. I only have three left."  
  
The inu-youkai towering over her prone form ignored her overly familiar comments and said, in that low, imperious tone of his, "Ah. The hanyou's pet human. I suppose his idiocy attracts other idiots. Why do you roam the woods at night, when you are obviously incapable of defending yourself?"  
  
Sesshoumaru frowned inwardly. This particular human had never made any sense to him, though he supposed anyone who cast her lot in with Inuyasha's would be somewhat intellectually afflicted.  
  
Crap, crap, CRAP! Kagome gave up on having any other thoughts and just lay there limply, hoping Sesshoumaru would become bored and move on to terrorize some nearby villagers. Or even better, Jaken the wonder-toad.  
  
Sesshoumaru felt a tingle of surprise at her continuing silence. It seemed that in all the previous encounters they had had, she had been unbearably loquacious. Had she fainted?  
  
The human continued to lie there, inert. He sniffed the air, but could not detect any sickness or serious injuries on her, besides a faint tinge of blood. Her scent was healthy; warm, sweet and spicy. Her open eyes lacked the glassy shine that indicated unconsciousness.  
  
Was the girl actually trying to play dead?  
  
He nudged her with his shoe in disbelief and pointedly cleared his throat.  
  
"Well?" he repeated, in a tone of voice that suggested he was speaking to a child. A very stupid, recalcitrant child.  
  
Excellent, Kagome thought. Her continued silence was provoking impatience, the first step onto the boredom train.  
  
Or, she realized, the first step to getting herself melted into a puddle of green goo. Oops.  
  
"Well what?" she asked wearily from her position on the forest floor. Though she knew she should be more worried, the only things she could focus on at the moment was the twig gouging her in the ribs, and the renewed approach of Sesshoumaru's foot. She looked up, and blinked in surprise.  
  
Were her eyes deceiving her? Had the noble and expressionless Sesshoumaru actually rolled his eyes in annoyance?  
  
"What are you doing, human wench? And where is the useless hanyou?" Sesshoumaru looked down upon the girl in curiosity. She was always so inappropriately dressed. Weren't humans sensitive to cold? When he saw villagers in his travels, they wore more protective fabric.  
  
This girl was a puzzle, indeed.  
  
Kagome rose awkwardly to her feet, brushing leaves and dirt from her skirt and sweater as she did so. "I don't know what I'm doing. I guess I'm searching for the Shikon shards. I have no idea where Inuyasha is," she responded honestly.  
  
He definitely rolled his eyes.  
  
"Weak human girl, you will answer my questions." Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he took a step closer to her, forcing her to tilt her head back in order to see his face. He looked like he was a moment away from grabbing her throat and shaking her. Why did he have to be so intimidatingly tall? And so damned perfect looking all the time? It was enough to give a girl a complex.  
  
Oh no. Now he was glaring at her with those hard, amber eyes. His clawed hand definitely looked throat-bound.  
  
"Do not lower yourself even further by lying for that worthless brother of mine. I grow weary of questioning you."  
  
"I'm not lying," Kagome shot back, her eyes rising to his once more. Her intimidation was forgotten at the mention of Inuyasha. "This afternoon, I got on his bad side, all right?" Her tone flattened. "He yelled at me for a good ten minutes and then took off. I don't know where he's gone, and from what he said, I doubt I'll see him anytime soon."  
  
Sesshoumaru tilted his head in consideration. Ah, thought Kagome with relief. His hand had lowered to his side.  
  
"Wench, what did you do to anger him?"  
  
"I shattered the jewel again." Kagome's voice was small and sad. Why was she telling him this? Oh well, she thought. It was not as though he cared about the shards anyway. The thought of telling someone else, no matter how unsympathetic, was unbearably attractive at this point.  
  
"Miroku, Sango and Shippou had gone to the village, and Naraku came upon Inuyasha and me. We knew we would have to fight him for that last piece, but we weren't ready yet, and he knew it." Kagome paused, her face reflecting her remembered dread.  
  
Sesshoumaru's eyes seemed to glow with interest. He gestured for her to continue.  
  
"So, there we were, in a clearing. I tried to shoot Naraku a few times, but he just shed his skin like a snake. And Inuyasha attacked him with Tetsusaiga-" Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed, and Kagome hurriedly moved on, "- but he wasn't fast enough."  
  
Sesshoumaru seemed gratified at this mention of his half-brother's incompetence.  
  
"Naraku burned him, and I was injured as well." Kagome motioned to her left thigh, which she had clumsily bandaged.  
  
"Then," Kagome exhaled, "Naraku took our piece of the Shikon no Tama from me. He started to forge the two pieces together. Inuyasha was trying to get it back from him, but he was slowed down by his injuries, and Naraku was just too strong. We hadn't even touched him. He butchered his children. He took all their shards, and then. . ." Kagome trailed off.  
  
"And, wench?" Sesshoumaru inquired, his face expressionless aside from the glow of his eyes.  
  
"I had to," Kagome stated woodenly. "I couldn't let Naraku have the whole thing. He had all the pieces, and he was about to absorb it. So, while he was distracted, melding the shards back into one whole, I lifted my bow and shattered it again, just like the first time, in one shot."  
  
Kagome was silent for a while before she started to speak again.  
  
"I had to," she repeated as though to convince herself. "It was my responsibility to keep the Shikon no Tama safe. I couldn't allow someone as evil as Naraku to use it. But Inuyasha. . ."  
  
Sesshoumaru watched as her eyes misted slightly and darkened into a deep brown. Her eyes are quite attractive, he thought.  
  
"The hanyou was angry, was he not, human? He wanted the Shikon no Tama for his own use, and told you he could have retrieved the crystal himself. He could not understand that you could not take the chance that he might not succeed."  
  
Her head bowed. "Yes."  
  
His golden eyes hardened, and he lifted his chin slightly. "Doubtless, he would not have been able to recover it in time. The idiot overestimates his own abilities. It is one of his greatest flaws. You should not be surprised at his defection. He has no sense of duty or honor, but I am sure that you have noticed this, human wench."  
  
Having gotten her story off her chest, the young miko had started to feel better about her decision, and better in general - which is why she started to speak without thinking.  
  
Kagome's hands flew to her hips. "I don't see how you can say that. You don't know how hard it was, hunting for those shards. But he kept going! He helped me!"  
  
Sesshoumaru watched her impassively. Well, well, he thought. She continued to defend the brat, though it was obvious that her loyalty had been misplaced.  
  
"The hanyou is motivated purely by self-interest. Does he not want to eliminate his human blood? Your defense of him is unjustified, wench."  
  
Kagome's frustration came to a head, causing more ill-reasoned words to fly from her mouth. Her fist pressed more firmly into her hips, and then she raised a hand and actually shook her index finger before Sesshoumaru's face. "My name is Kagome! Not wench, not 'the hanyou's human pet,' and not 'useless human girl,' it's Kagome. Ka. Go. Me. Must you always be so incredibly insulting?"  
  
Kagome listened, horrified, to the words spewing out of her, too stunned at her own effrontery to notice that Sesshoumaru had instinctively taken step back.  
  
Oh, crap, crap, crap! The trauma of today had completely rotted her brain away, she mentally groaned, closing her eyes tightly in panic. He hadn't even made a move to hurt her yet. He was actually being kind of okay, and there she was provoking him!  
  
Sesshoumaru looked in shock at this bizarre creature that had been yelling into his face. Did she have no respect?  
  
One moment, she was telling him in a sad voice that she had sacrificed the regard of her ally so that she could perform her duty. Then, she had begun ranting wildly. The next moment, she stood petrified, with her eyes closed and her hand over her mouth.  
  
Now she was making strange groaning noises. Perhaps the girl did suffer from a mental disorder of some sort.  
  
Kagome stood, trembling, her head filled with a cacophony of thoughts. Shit. There was no way Sesshoumaru would let her live after that outburst. After mentally saying her goodbyes to her friends and her family, her thoughts turned to pity for her next incarnation.  
  
That poor sucker, she thought sympathetically. She had no idea what she was in for, the unfortunate girl. Oh, gods, Kagome thought, if only she could have left a message for her, telling her to move to England, or America, or somewhere where they didn't have shrines or wells that took a person back in time. It never ended happily. You just failed your mission, ended up deserted, and, to add insult to injury, stupidly got yourself killed by a man who was prettier than you.  
  
Mama! Souta! Grandpa! I love you! Kagome thought desperately.  
  
She slowly became aware of a strange, quiet sound. She couldn't place it, and the unfamiliarity of it was making her very nervous. Her legs started to shake, knocking her knees together. Perhaps, Kagome thought, this was some other special attack of Sesshoumaru's. Her mind whirled with images of Sesshoumaru's transformation, and his poison claw.  
  
What could this one possibly be? Each passing moment struck more terror into her heart.  
  
"Oh gods!" Kagome choked, her eyes still tightly closed. "I'm not ready to die!" The noise only grew louder. She stiffened her spine and willed herself to stop trembling.  
  
"If I'm going to die," she growled, "I'm going to go down fighting."  
  
Kagome formed her shaking hands into fists, raised them, and opened her eyes, only to see something even more awful than anything she could have imagined.  
  
Sesshoumaru - Inuyasha's older brother, the ruthless Lord of the Western Lands - was laughing at her.  
  
Her mouth fell open at the sight. She had never seen him look so human before. Sesshoumaru was chuckling under his breath, his amber eyes alight with amusement, and the moonlight gilding his hair. Kagome felt all the breath leave her body at the sight of him. She had always known he was beautiful, in an icy sort of way, but this was just ridiculous. Maybe he never smiled for fear of being trampled by amorous females.  
  
Sesshoumaru quieted. The human girl's jaw had gone slack and she looked like she was about to faint, when a moment ago, she'd looked like an angry kitten threatening him with tiny claws.  
  
He could also detect the scent of blood, and it was growing stronger. It seemed that the wound on her leg had reopened.  
  
She was extremely irritating in her outspoken nature, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that she had a sense of duty. She was human, and weak, yet she had parted from her protector because she would not allow him to endanger her charge.  
  
Sesshoumaru understood responsibility and sacrifice in the name of duty.  
  
She even defended the hanyou to him, though her loyalty seemed to go unappreciated.  
  
He could not remember when he had last been so amused or surprised by anyone, human or youkai, and when one lived as long as he did, life tended to become very boring.  
  
The Lord of the Western Lands stepped forward again, and pushed her towards a fallen tree, motioning for her to sit.  
  
"Calm yourself and close your mouth," Sesshoumaru stated in an expressionless voice.  
  
He was a powerful youkai, and guardian of these lands, was he not? He was entitled to a whim. Or two, he thought, remembering Rin.  
  
"I, Sesshoumaru, will not kill you."  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note: I am reposting this with some modifications to fit better. I am still a little uncertain about the placement of this chapter, so it may be moved/revamped later on. I'm still trying to work my incomprehensible labyrinth of a plot into a chapter by chapter structure.  
  
I thought I'd post it since I might not write more until next weekend.  
  
Thanks again to the reviewers. Your encouragement is really helping me get this out. 


	4. 3 The Freeway

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 3: The Freeway  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing.  
  
Rating: PG 13 for now, but will probably be changed to R or NC17 later on. (NC17 material will only make it into my MediaMiner.org posts)  
  
Summary: Kagome has gone back where she belongs, but so has someone else. What exactly happened? They don't know yet either. K/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: A new villain appears in the modern age with the power to both deafen and blind. Sesshou and Kagome encounter one another again, but one burning question remains unanswered.  
  
Edited again and reposted. This time I punched up the meeting scene to make it a bit more natural, and changed Kagome's eyes to brown. Why didn't anyone tell me? I never notice these things. I now have half my keyboard indented in my forehead. Later!  
  
*****  
  
---Present Day---  
  
He was going to kill her.  
  
If that girl in the row behind him didn't stop her obnoxious giggling, Sesshou fully intended to reach over, grab her by the neck and shake her until her (probably still giggling) head popped right off her body.  
  
A rare and genuine smile crossed his face as he imagined the blessed silence that would follow his act of fully justifiable manslaughter. Maybe he would finally be able to hear one full sentence from the professor without that horrible squeaky voice drowning out every other word.  
  
The voice escalated into a grotesque parody of a stage whisper.  
  
"He's SO HOT! I've been checking him out ALL SEMESTER! He's TOTALLY my boyfriend."  
  
Sesshou winced at the renewed assault on his sensitive ears. Shouldn't something that high-pitched be supersonic?  
  
"I just want to run my fingers all through that white hair of his! OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD! I can totally see his muscles under that sweater! RRROWL!"  
  
More giggling followed.  
  
Sesshou groaned inwardly, glancing surreptitiously from side to side and seeing no other head of hair that could be described as white, and no other male in the vicinity wearing a sweater.  
  
Oh.  
  
Oh gods, no.  
  
They were talking about him.  
  
The urge to flee the room blossomed in his heart. He knew her type. He'd have to make a quick escape after class to avoid the possibility that, god forbid, she would try to talk to him. He would probably end up being incredibly rude if she did. He had been told that, when annoyed, he could induce permafrost in the middle of summer.  
  
He looked towards the aisle for an easy escape route, since trying to hear the lecture would evidently be a futile exercise. Unfortunately, the row was full. Leaving now would entail wading through a mass of legs and backpacks. He also noted that some of the men in the surrounding seats were looking at him enviously, for reasons he could not comprehend. He would gladly have paid money to trade places with any of them.  
  
Sesshou did not make friends easily, and the girls who didn't find him unapproachable were usually far too brazen for his tastes. He'd been accused of being snobby, but he liked to think of it as having standards. He focused on his work, and, as a result, was less interested in dating than others his age. It felt to him as though he was waiting for something. If he met an intriguing girl, he guessed that would change.  
  
Someone with a nice laugh, he thought distractedly.  
  
Inexplicably, his thoughts turned to the woman he'd run into on the way to school today. He'd somehow known her name.  
  
He pushed his sleeve up yet again. The stripes had not reappeared. Perhaps his sleep deprivation was causing his mind to play tricks on him. Lately, he really hadn't been as sharp as he should be. It could have been his imagination, he thought doubtfully.  
  
However, that girl - how had he known she was named Kagome? Had he met her before? He tapped his pen against his notebook, trying to think back. Such deep brown eyes, and coal-black hair that fell against her face like a raven's wing - he would have remembered. Her vivacity had been even more arresting than her beauty. It seemed like her every action was utterly natural.  
  
He was slightly envious of that quality.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by yet another piercing squeal. "He IS adorable, but you can't have him, he's MINE!" Horrendous giggle. "I'm TOTALLY going to ask him out after class. Maybe he has a friend to hook you up with though!"  
  
Sesshou winced. Why was this insipid girl in an upper-level political science course anyway? He hoped that she didn't aspire to public office. Japan did not need a legislative amendment providing underprivileged children with state-funded supplies of Final Net.  
  
He felt a moment of regret about coming to this school. Granted, it was small, and not very prestigious, but it had seemed like the thing to do at the time. He'd enrolled despite scholarship offers from other universities, wanting to stay in the area. It was the best option with his limited funds. He had come here with the rationale that if he wanted to do any post- graduate work, he could take a scholarship offer and attend a better school. His grades would certainly allow that possibility.  
  
Just now, however, he wasn't ready to move. His adoptive parents' home was a short distance away. The small house they had left to him was all that he had left of them, and the first place he had ever been happy. He wanted to remember that. They had passed away not two years ago, within months of one another.  
  
A gradual awareness of rustling and thudding noises washed over him. Looking around once more, Sesshou noticed that lecture had ended and people were collecting their books in order to leave.  
  
Oh, no.  
  
Five more seconds in here, and she'd fall upon him like a rabid wolf.  
  
He grabbed his notebook and turned to get into the aisle of the lecture theater as quickly as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a girl with incredibly big hair and a lime-green miniskirt waggling her fingers at him flirtatiously. She seemed to be busy shoving handfuls of lip- gloss tubes into her capacious pink bag. Taking full advantage of his head start, Sesshou quickly reached the aisle and made for the double doors.  
  
"Hey, cutie! WAIT UP!" That awful voice was closing in fast.  
  
He picked his pace up, and the voice faded as he exited the auditorium and hurried into the hallway. Throwing a glance over his shoulder, he failed to notice that people were still emerging from the room opposite. He walked head-on into someone, and instinctively caught hold of her shoulders to keep her upright. His head remained turned towards the double doors, keeping an eye out for the abhorred giggle-monster.  
  
Kagome's glanced up from the book bag she'd been searching through. An apology was about to escape her lips when her eyes hardened in shock.  
  
It was that guy again.  
  
Her brain whirred. How was it that she had managed to collide twice today with the same person? How did he know her name? Why on earth wasn't he letting go of her shoulders?  
  
She waited a moment, growing more irritated with each passing second. The way he was looking over his shoulder could only be described as shifty.  
  
Sesshou, head still turned, exhaled with relief. He could find no sign of the hair-bomb that menaced him.  
  
There was a moment of silence before he heard someone speak.  
  
"Okay. This seems a little too familiar."  
  
He turned to see Kagome, the girl from before. This time, instead of stammering her apologies and babbling ingenuously, she was standing with her hands on her hips and her dark eyes firmly fixed on him.  
  
"You were hanging out outside my house. You know my name, but I am sure we've never met." Her voice sounded cheerful and conversational, but her expression told another story altogether.  
  
"Now, you coincidentally happen to be at the college I attend, and manage to smack into me again." Her gaze seemed to radiate an unearthly light.  
  
She really did have great eyes, he thought.  
  
He should have been more concerned about his own well being at that moment. Her tone was changing from sweet to downright dangerous.  
  
She poked him in the chest and advanced on him. He released her shoulders and stepped back in surprise.  
  
"Actually," Sesshou interrupted, regaining his bearings, "I do go to schoo- "  
  
Kagome ignored him and continued, gaining volume with every word.  
  
"Let's add this up, shall we?" Kagome started itemizing today's incidences on her fingers.  
  
"That's two 'accidental' meetings, and one demonstration of mysteriously acquired personal information. It seems a bit too coincidental, don't you think?"  
  
Sesshou shot another harried glance towards the lecture theater, and almost recoiled in horror. A mass of hair was rapidly approaching, rather like a black cumulonimbus cloud before a storm.  
  
Another annoyed poke on the chest from Kagome brought his attention back to her slightly flushed face.  
  
Kagome's thoughts were whirling. The facts could only add up to one thing. "Listen up! I'm going to ask you this once, and once only." Apprehension grew in Sesshou at the deadly tone of her voice.  
  
"Are you STALKING me!?!" Kagome practically trembled with indignation.  
  
Sesshou's mouth opened briefly in surprise, closed, and opened again. The gears of his mind slowly turned.  
  
He couldn't help but burst out laughing. His reaction stunned him, as well as Kagome, who had been one step away from administering vigilante justice.  
  
"S-s-s-STALKING YOU?" Sesshou laughed harder and clutched at his stomach.  
  
This was just too much.  
  
Disgruntled, Kagome watched stalker-guy as he completely lost it. She grudgingly admitted to herself that - as demented stalkers in serious need of rehabilitation went - he was actually very attractive.  
  
A high-pitched, reproachful voice suddenly assaulted the alleged stalker and stalkee.  
  
"Hey! HEY, HOT STUFF! I tried to get you to wait for me after class, but you didn't see me, you bad, bad boy!"  
  
Kagome met Sesshou's eyes, quirking an eyebrow. 'Bad, bad boy?' she mouthed.  
  
His mirth came to an abrupt end.  
  
Kagome smirked. Locating the source of the shout, she blinked, and then blinked again. Until now, she had remained unaware that so many colours existed, let alone that they could all be worn simultaneously. She turned back to Sesshou, for fear of going blind.  
  
A tiny smile threatened to lift the corners of Kagome's mouth. She crossed her arms over her chest, ready for the show.  
  
The chirping female continued to approach, and then came to a stop beside him. "My name's Keiko. You look like a happening guy. Wanna go dancing tonight? I know this GREAT place! You'd totally LOVE it!"  
  
Keiko's false eyelashes batted ferociously. The memory of a struggling vulture's wings from a nature show sprang to Kagome's mind. She believed the name of the program was 'When Animals Attack: Scavenging Birds of the Wild.'  
  
Sesshou was massaging his temples as though he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders. Keiko giggled louder, moved closer and stroked his arm suggestively.  
  
Oh, gods, Sesshou realized. She was pressing his elbow into her cleavage.  
  
"Awwww, do you have a widdle headache? Keiko will make it all better!"  
  
Kagome bit her lip and looked like she might pop.  
  
Sesshou wanted to disappear into the floor.  
  
He really should have strangled her in class, Sesshou thought wryly.  
  
Some things were more important than freedom.  
  
He was strong enough to survive jail. Besides, what jury would convict him?  
  
However, he smiled inwardly when he heard Kagome laughing softly. Against the backdrop of Chirpy McSqueal's grating giggle, it was a balm to his ears.  
  
When had his life degenerated into high farce?  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note: I'm sorry that this chapter might have been a tad slow, with exposition anvils falling like large iron snowflakes. Hopefully the tower of painstakingly teased hair softened the blows.  
  
Again, huge thanks go to the reviewers. I wanted to get another chapter done before this weekend was over for you guys. I might have decided this is too much work and stopped after chapter 1, but the encouragement is helping me through.  
  
For those who like to know these things, the title of this story and the chapter titles are from "This Mess We're In" by PJ Harvey. 


	5. 4 And You Must Leave Now

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 4: And You Must Leave Now  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing.  
  
Rating: I will try to cut a PG13 version for ff.net. NC17 material will be reserved for MediaMiner.org posts, as well as the address in my profile once I get around to creating the site.  
  
Summary: Kagome has gone back where she belongs, but so has someone else. What exactly happened? Sesshou and Kagome don't know yet, but the past is about to collide with the present. Kag/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: We rejoin our protagonists in the Sengoku Jidai. Kagome is sowing seeds of unrest in Sesshoumaru's household (or maybe just in Sesshoumaru; the household seems to be doing fine).  
  
*****  
  
---Sengoku Jidai---  
  
Sesshoumaru stood in the gardens of his home to greet the morning, enjoying a moment of peace. He had a bit of time before he would be obligated to deal with the inevitable problems that arose in his territory. Today, however, was different from most. His thoughts were centered on the new addition to the household.  
  
In the past few days, Jaken had complained less about Rin. The little girl had begun to spend more time with Kagome. Sesshoumaru had previously wondered how Rin would fare in the total absence of her own species; he supposed that having another human around to answer Rin's questions would be beneficial.  
  
When Rin and her reluctant green nanny had caught up to them in the forest five nights ago, the child had immediately taken to Kagome. Unperturbed by the young woman's bloody bandages or haggard appearance, Rin had approached her, obviously fascinated. His young ward had not given Sesshoumaru any peace until he had finally agreed to take Kagome in.  
  
Inuyasha's former companion had proved to be incredibly stubborn. She had actually refused his help, stating that she would prefer to be alone than with someone who would surely kill her at the first opportunity. Annoyed, he had calmly pointed out that his first opportunity had already come and gone, but there would be plenty more in future if she continued to tempt him into reconsidering his decision.  
  
The argument that had eventually swayed her to common sense was that, wounded and vulnerable, she would be easy prey for any other youkai that happened upon her.  
  
If Rin hadn't been so insistent, he wouldn't even have tried to persuade her. Sesshoumaru was unaccustomed to having his edicts challenged, yet this pathetically weak creature had the temerity to argue with him. On one hand, it had been refreshing. On the other hand, it had irritated him to no end.  
  
What need had he of another human to look after? He intended to send her away as soon as the wound on her leg healed.  
  
Despite her contrariness, he had to admit that the girl temporarily staying in his home had not been as disruptive as he had anticipated. Kagome was patient with the little girl, and always greeted her cheerfully, though he knew that she must be exhausted. The injury on her thigh had turned out to be far more severe than she had let on, and humans suffered pain and slow healing. However, despite any discomfort she may have experienced, she bore Rin's many questions and endless chatter without once losing her temper.  
  
In passing, Kagome had also mentioned that she intended to continue in her quest without the help of her former allies. Her separation from her companions obviously saddened her. She had continued to be rather withdrawn and quiet, which was quite a contrast from what he had seen of her in the past. Previously, she had been almost impossible to silence when he had had the misfortune to encounter their motley crew.  
  
All in all, he had assessed the group as bumbling and inept. He could not imagine how she would collect one shard, let alone all of the Shikon no Tama, without help. Her resolve was admirable, but stupid. Sesshoumaru was certain that she would perish in the effort.  
  
There was something else that intrigued him about the girl, besides her seemingly suicidal determination to reassemble the Shikon no Tama. Sesshoumaru had noticed in the past that, though she had considerable abilities as a miko, they were in no way under her conscious control. He guessed that she was completely untrained in the use of her powers. That alone was anomalous, since most mikos were trained from childhood.  
  
Sesshoumaru had been caught off-guard by her candor. Her attitude was defiant in a way that suggested she had no concern for her own safety. The way she argued with him, as though she were his equal, was bizarre. In an age when humans were cowed by the stronger creatures that threatened them, it was rare to find one - particularly a girl with no fighting ability - who was willing to risk a youkai's wrath. On the occasions when he spoke to her, he had also found her words and the rhythm of her speech strange.  
  
These observations, along with her indecently abbreviated clothing, were enough to convince him that she was a foreigner.  
  
Where exactly had she come from?  
  
Sesshoumaru started to walk back towards the fortress. It was pointless to wonder about Kagome's origins, he reasoned. After all, she would soon be gone, and he had other matters to attend to. Earlier in the morning, Jaken had relayed news of trouble in the South. Something was causing a disturbance among the youkai there. Though he had no ties to those lands, he had an interest in discovering all he could about the situation.  
  
Despite his efforts to put Kagome from his mind, however, his curiosity remained.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome opened her eyes, stretched, and smiled when she saw Rin sitting expectantly at the foot of her futon.  
  
Since she had arrived at this massive house, Rin had gradually spent more time with her until they were virtually inseparable. Meeting the young girl had been interesting, to say the least. Rin was always filled with indomitable cheer, and it contrasted sharply with the austerity of her caretaker.  
  
In the clearing, when Rin had tugged at Sesshoumaru's clothing and started wheedling him to let Kagome stay with them, Kagome had been surprised. The taiyoukai's apparent reluctance to disappoint the child had been fascinating to Kagome; she had always believed him to be utterly emotionless and unrelenting. It had been almost surreal for her to witness his capitulation to a little girl's wishes.  
  
It seemed to Kagome that the last few days had been one surprise after another. First of all, she had fully expected to die that night in the forest when she had run her mouth off at Sesshoumaru. When he had laughed at her admittedly ridiculous behavior, she had been taken aback. Kagome would never have thought that the cold, pompous youkai had a sense of humor. She would also never have believed the indulgent way he treated Rin, or the child's obvious affection for him, if she hadn't seen them with her own eyes.  
  
But then, Kagome reasoned, she had never seen him in circumstances one could describe as normal. It was hard to develop a balanced opinion of someone who materialized only to steal family heirlooms and give death- threats.  
  
Kagome's curiosity had prompted her to gain a bit of insight into his character during her stay. It seemed that he mostly kept to himself. Rin was just a child, and Jaken, though loyal to him, was nothing but a sycophantic lackey. From what information Kagome could glean, Sesshoumaru didn't have a relationship with anyone who could be described as a confidant.  
  
He was just as isolated as Inuyasha had been, Kagome had realized, and she couldn't blame him. Everything she had overheard had convinced her that being a youkai lord was a million times more dangerous than participating in human politics. There was just as much scheming, backstabbing and double- crossing as there was in her era. The main difference was that, in youkai power struggles, the veneer of smiles and civility did not exist.  
  
Youkai tended towards the more direct approach: crushing one's enemies in fights to the death, and then parading their remains around on spikes to ensure that others would think twice before rising against them.  
  
It was an awful way to live. No wonder she couldn't exactly picture Sesshoumaru kicking back and having a beer with his buddies. Though perhaps, she thought, he needed that more than most.  
  
He was just so damned stuffy.  
  
Rin's bright voice interrupted her musings.  
  
"Kagome! Do you want to see the picture Rin made?" Rin stopped bouncing for the duration of her question, and resumed once it had been asked. Kagome noticed that Rin was holding something behind her back.  
  
Kagome nodded, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What did you draw?" she yawned, stretching again luxuriously. Kagome had become accustomed to bunking down under trees during her travels, so it was a rare treat for her to have such comfortable accommodations.  
  
Rin pulled the scroll from behind her back and carefully unrolled it, before presenting it to the young woman. Kagome looked blankly for a moment at the rather haphazard ink stains decorating the scroll, before the lines seemed to come together to form an image.  
  
Kagome squinted and stared. Rin's artistic achievement appeared to be an impressionistic rendition of a bulbous tree.  
  
No, that couldn't be it.  
  
Kagome tilted her head slightly, and corrected her initial assessment. Why had the child painted a picture of a woman with cat whiskers and a painful looking, monstrous growth on her shoulder? She started to notice more details.  
  
Rin's subject was cockeyed. She also appeared to have three arms, and her mouth was drawn into a sour frown. Rin was smiling expectantly, bouncing on the futon once more.  
  
"Hmmm," Kagome said. "It's a very nice drawing, Rin." Perhaps, Kagome mused, she would have to ask Rin to be more sensitive about others' deformities.  
  
"It's Sesshoumaru-sama! And there's Jaken!" Rin replied happily, oblivious to Kagome's confusion.  
  
Sesshoumaru and Jaken? Kagome looked again. Sure enough, there was a blob that she had mistakenly identified as stray smear of ink. In actuality, it had bulging eyes and carried a small stick with two round shapes on the end of it.  
  
Kagome chuckled, unable to restrain herself after the tension and loss of the past few days. It was a relief to laugh again.  
  
"You did an excellent job. It looks exactly like them!"  
  
**********  
  
At that precise moment, Sesshoumaru was walking through the hallway outside the door. Hearing Rin's and Kagome's laughter, he paused. It was strange to hear voices in these halls, he realized. He had become accustomed to silence.  
  
He started to walk again, when he heard his name mentioned. He stopped and looked through the half-open door.  
  
"Oh, Rin," Kagome choked out between giggles, "I love it. It's so lifelike." For a moment, Sesshoumaru couldn't see Rin. Then, he spotted her huge grin from where it peeked out of the older girl's bear hug.  
  
Kagome, in her amusement, failed notice that the subject of the little girl's masterpiece had entered the room and was now standing behind her. He examined the portrait from over her shoulder.  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin cried happily. "I made a picture of you. Kagome likes it. See?" The little girl was practically beaming with pride. Kagome started.  
  
Sesshoumaru did, indeed, see. He nodded slightly to Rin, and then frowned as he turned back to the drawing, unwittingly reflecting the expression she had painted on the scroll. He glanced at Kagome, then back at the scroll.  
  
So, she thought he looked like that, did she? His pride smarted. Did she really think that he was so deformed?  
  
Offended, he turned from the scroll and fixed Kagome with an icy glare.  
  
Her mirth had passed, giving way to annoyance. Why was he just standing there silently like a rock? Couldn't he see that Rin was desperately awaiting his approval?  
  
"Have you always been this stuffy?" Kagome's tone was pointed.  
  
Rin had quieted, not understanding the tension in the room.  
  
Something unfamiliar stirred inside Sesshoumaru in response to her defiance. His glowering became thirty degrees colder. Other recipients of that look had either ended up dead, or frozen solid in fear.  
  
Kagome, however, remained oblivious.  
  
He probably had always been like this, she thought, oblivious to his anger. In her mind's eye, she saw a tiny Sesshoumaru rise from his bassinette, pluck a soother from his mouth, and coolly state, 'This plaything bores me. Remove it from my presence.'  
  
At the sound of a throat clearing in irritation, Kagome returned to reality and matched Sesshoumaru glare for glare.  
  
"You are ungrateful," he said in a low voice. "I have spared your life and allowed you to stay in my home until you are healed. Do not press me to withdraw my mercy."  
  
Kagome started to seethe. Ooh, she thought, fists clenched. He was the one who had convinced her to stay here, and now he was going to lord it over her!  
  
Rin sat silently, watching the standoff with wide eyes. Sesshoumaru noticed the young girl's alarm and grabbed Kagome by the elbow, pulling her behind him as he exited the sleeping chamber.  
  
"Don't worry, Rin. Just stay here. I'll be right back," Kagome called out as she stumbled after the royally pissed-off youkai. She was spitting mad, and fully intended to give him a piece of her mind.  
  
When the two combatants reached the end of the hallway, he pushed her towards the wall and then rounded on her. "Have you no instinct for self- preservation?" Sesshoumaru snarled, on the precipice of his control. He didn't understand why he was so angered over something as insignificant as a human's mockery, but he couldn't seem to curb his childish reaction.  
  
Sesshoumaru had opened his mouth to continue, when Kagome had the gall to cut him off.  
  
"And have you no sensitivity at all?" Her face was flushed with anger on Rin's behalf. He was really ticking her off. What was it about this guy that just rubbed her the wrong way?  
  
Sparks seemed to ignite in her gaze as she continued in a tight, hushed tone.  
  
"That girl adores you, for reasons I cannot comprehend. All she wants is for you to say that you like the drawing. That's all." Kagome's words were clipped, as though she was trying to keep herself from raising her voice.  
  
Utterly incensed, Sesshoumaru could barely withhold a growl.  
  
She dared to challenge him. She was actually lecturing him. Was she completely insane?  
  
He chose not to examine the sudden thought that arguing with her was extremely exciting, on some level he did not want to identify.  
  
His usually still demeanor seemed to crack under Kagome's stare, and in his eyes, something dangerous and previously dormant was blazing into life.  
  
Sesshoumaru stepped closer to Kagome, fully intending to make her cower against the wall. "Rin is my concern," he ground out between clenched teeth. "It would benefit you to remain silent on matters that do not involve you, bitch." He bit out that last word, knowing it would further anger her.  
  
When he caught what he'd just done, Sesshoumaru was taken aback. He was not only losing control of the situation, but also deliberately setting out to provoke her. Something inside him seemed to prevent him from ceasing this juvenile posturing and leaving while he still had some dignity intact.  
  
"Ka-go-me." She enunciated each syllable slowly, as if he were a particularly simple child, and glared daggers at golden irises that now seemed dangerously pale.  
  
When had he gotten so close to her? His breath felt hot on her face.  
  
Kagome bristled, narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest, and lifted her chin in defiance of his intimidation tactics. After days of depression over being alone and helpless, worrying about Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango and Shippou, this verbal showdown actually felt kind of good.  
  
"My name is Kagome," she continued in a frigid voice. "Maybe it's a good thing that I am involving myself in your business. It is obvious that you desperately need help, if you can't even do one small thing that would mean nothing to you, but everything to Rin!" The volume of Kagome's voice escalated slightly.  
  
Her eyes remained locked on his. She couldn't seem to stop talking, even though her survival instinct was belatedly kicking in and screaming 'Abort! Abort!' complete with bells, sirens, and little red twirling lights.  
  
Her voice grew louder. "Why can't you just say you like the goddamn-"  
  
Sesshoumaru couldn't take any more of her rebellion. He felt something snap inside him. His hand flashed forward and clamped over her mouth, silencing her.  
  
They stood silently for a moment, and then two.  
  
Glaring down at her, he saw that her hair was still tousled from sleep.  
  
Her lips felt hot and unbearably soft against his sensitive palm.  
  
The flush of her anger was causing her eyes to crackle with indignation, and her sweet, spicy scent seemed to roll off her skin in waves.  
  
A shudder ran through him.  
  
Kagome's eyes widened as she saw something ripple through the youkai before her. She felt an answering tingle rise in her own body, flooding her with a heat she'd never known.  
  
This is all wrong, they thought simultaneously.  
  
She could almost taste the warmth of his palm. Some new kind of knowledge arose in her, and she trembled as she felt the light scrape of his claws against her cheek. Her eyes opened even further. She had never seen that particular expression on his face before. Come to think of it, she had rarely seen an expression of any kind, let alone that one with the soft mouth and confused amber eyes.  
  
She was suddenly acutely aware of how helpless she was in this position. She wore only the sleeping robe that had been given to her when she had arrived, and Kagome fervently prayed that it hadn't started to gape open.  
  
Sesshoumaru blinked down at the girl before him. Slowly, he removed his hand from her face, and was amazed to feel the imprint of her lips still burning in his palm. Kagome's breath was issuing forth in soft pants. Her eyes were round and so dark that they were almost black, but he could see no fear in them.  
  
Sesshoumaru placed his hands on the wall, effectively trapping her. It was unnecessary. She remained completely immobile except for her breathing and the rapid pulse that fluttered in her neck.  
  
"Kagome," he muttered under his breath. He'd finally learned her name. She felt a brief burst of triumph.  
  
Then, he put a stop to all her thought processes by leaning down and covering her mouth with his.  
  
Kagome's lips parted slightly in shock. Sesshoumaru drew her lower lip into his mouth before delicately taking its plump softness between his teeth. Kagome made a soft sound in her throat, her eyes fluttering closed in surprise and pleasure. Her moan seemed to galvanize him. His mouth slanted firmly over her trembling lips, his tongue entering to stroke against hers in a slow, liquid rhythm.  
  
Her scent seemed to surround him, though no other part of their bodies touched.  
  
Her ability to think had completely left the premises. Kagome desperately tried to recover her powers of logic, but the taste of his mouth was driving them from her head. She gave up the attempt, reached up, and buried her hands in his hair, fingers curling helplessly against his scalp. Feeling the urge to experiment, she sucked on the tip of his tongue as her thumbs stroked behind his ears. He groaned, and then moved to press hot, licking kisses on the side of her neck.  
  
Pressing closer to her, Sesshoumaru removed one hand from the wall and lightly gripped the side of her thigh, dragging the soft cotton of the sleeping robe up over her warm skin. . .  
  
And stopped when Kagome winced in pain.  
  
Their eyes snapped open, and the world returned. They looked at one another with identical expressions of horror as they simultaneously scrambled to put as much distance between themselves as possible.  
  
More accurately, Kagome scrambled. Sesshoumaru simply disappeared and rematerialized five feet away.  
  
Being the expert, he collected his composure in seconds. He looked at Kagome's bandage, which remained unstained with blood.  
  
"How is your wound?" he asked coolly, as if they had been discussing what lovely weather they'd been having. Kagome was still dumbly staring at his mouth, her hand clasped to her throat where the heat of his lips still lingered on her skin.  
  
Who was the whuh? She tried to interpret what he said, but her brain was in neutral. It took a moment before it ground back into gear.  
  
"Um, i-it's - that is, I think it's almost healed," she replied shakily, leaning heavily against the wall.  
  
His eyes still glittered pale yellow, but his voice was as expressionless as ever.  
  
"You will leave here in two days," he stated.  
  
Then, he turned from her and continued down the path he should not have strayed from only fifteen minutes earlier.  
  
Kagome remained there for a moment, leaning against the wall. Eventually, her legs started to move, mechanically returning her to her room.  
  
Rin would be worried. Before entering, Kagome pasted a smile on her face. The little girl's cheerful expression returned when Kagome reassured her that everything was okay.  
  
She just wished she could convince herself of the same thing.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshoumaru stood, looking out the window of the room he used as a study. Jaken was rattling on endlessly, elated to have the opportunity to supply his master with information.  
  
Finally, Jaken arrived at the subject at hand: news from the South.  
  
"There is a woman there, Sesshoumaru-sama. She is very unusual. It is said that she has unique skill as a fighter. The youkai there fear her, including the Lord of the Southern Lands. Bah! To fear a mere human! What pathetic excuses for youkai! Not at all like Sesshoumaru-sama!"  
  
Listening with half an ear as Jaken continued his spiel about the general uselessness of the human species, Sesshoumaru paused thoughtfully. He had heard rumors of unrest among the youkai in the South, but would not have suspected that a human was the cause. Few of them were powerful enough to be a significant threat to his kind.  
  
He suspected that the woman had started to fight the youkai because they sought her out, wanting to brag about her defeat. Such foolish glory- seekers were not his concern.  
  
This woman, however, sounded interesting.  
  
"Tell me all that you know about her, Jaken."  
  
Sesshoumaru forcefully turned his thoughts away from an entirely different female who was currently tying his brain in knots. Never before had a woman challenged him so, and his reaction to her spirit had overwhelmed and stunned him.  
  
Kagome was trouble. The sooner he was rid of her, the better.  
  
Jaken scowled. Sesshoumaru-sama was wasting too much of his precious time involving himself with humans, in his lowly opinion. Of course, Sesshoumaru- sama was one of the greatest youkai who ever lived, and Jaken was sure that he had reasons for this unseemly behavior. Ah, the great and wonderful Sesshoumaru-sama! How Jaken lived to bask in his mighty glow!  
  
Jaken had gone silent during his protracted Sesshoumaru-appreciation session. His bulging eyes took on a disturbing, glassy look. After a few moments, the subject of his adulation casually clouted him over the head, much like someone might hit a gadget that had inexplicably ceased to function.  
  
"Jaken. This woman from the South," he demanded.  
  
"Ah yes, Sesshoumaru-sama! She is unconventional. She is a miko, but was not trained as a child. They say that it may be part of her power. Few who have faced her have lived to tell of it. Those that have say she fights in a way they have never seen before," Jaken supplied eagerly.  
  
Sesshoumaru motioned silently for Jaken to continue.  
  
"She does not fight in the traditional fashion, Lord Sesshoumaru. There are few details, but it is said that she somehow uses her powers to assist her in close combat styles. This is all I know," Jaken concluded.  
  
The taiyoukai's thoughts returned again to Kagome. He had to get her away from his household as soon as she was well. If she remained, he knew there would be trouble.  
  
This strange attraction he felt would certainly leave with her.  
  
He knew also that Kagome would not rest in her renewed search for the Shikon shards. She would surely die if she started on her hunt now. If she was killed, Rin would be upset, and he would never hear the end of it.  
  
This mysterious miko, however, might be able to help Kagome, whose skills needed drastic improvement. Sesshoumaru shook his head in disgust as he remembered how easily defeated she had been in the woods. That would not do.  
  
For Rin's sake, he would ensure Kagome's survival.  
  
With a lightened heart, Sesshoumaru went to find his young charge, intending to compliment her on her horrible ink painting.  
  
In two days, he would leave Kagome with this miko.  
  
He hoped to high heaven that he would never see her again.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note: This chapter is huge (at least for me). I'm stunned. Edited Feb. 24 to show a little more of where Sesshoumaru is coming from.  
  
In other news, the loose ends of the plot are tying themselves off in my head, so I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be doing now.  
  
Thanks, reviewers. I was suffering a block, read your reviews, and then it went away. I'm so happy that people aside from myself are enjoying this.  
  
For those who like to know these things, the title of this story and the chapter titles are from "This Mess We're In" by PJ Harvey. 


	6. 5 You Looked Me in the Eye

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 5: You Looked Me in the Eye  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing.  
  
Rating: For now, it's all still PG13. Eventually there will be some adult stuff. I will continue to cut a PG13 or R version for ff.net. NC17 material will be reserved for MediaMiner.org posts, and will be eventually posted at the address in my profile.  
  
Summary: Kagome has gone back where she belongs, but so has someone else. What exactly happened? Sesshou and Kagome don't know yet, but the past is about to collide with the present. Kag/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: Kagome comes to an awful realization. Keiko's ghost rises to haunt Sesshou (and us) once more. People faint and pee themselves. Craziness ensues. Revised 3/25/03.  
  
*****  
  
---Present Day---  
  
Finally, she was homeward bound. Kagome had been running around all day, and would have given anything at that moment to put her feet up and raise her middle finger to the world.  
  
"I'm on my last legs," she grumbled wearily. At least she had managed to turn in that lab report this morning. Just thinking about yet another all- night homework session was enough to make her want to die.  
  
To top it all off, she was all sweaty from the walk from the campus to her home.  
  
She decided that she might as well go a few blocks out of her way to stop at the convenience store for a six-pack of something cold, fizzy, and full of sugar. She continued resolutely past the entrance of the shrine complex, now fueled by the promise of something refreshing that would, as an added bonus, make all her teeth fall out.  
  
She passed a construction site. Then Kagome reached the residential blocks, and observed that several people were going about their business outside their homes. At one house, a woman was mucking around in her flowerbed. A couple of houses down, a guy was repairing his shutters with a hammer and nails.  
  
Kagome was, for a moment, attracted by the simple domesticity of such activities.  
  
Then, she returned to her senses, and shook her head with a sigh. Lately, she couldn't even think about sweeping the shrine grounds without becoming prematurely tired.  
  
Finally, she entered the bright and air-conditioned confines of the store. She headed straight to the cooler section, and then stood in perplexity for a moment, transfixed by all the sugary beverages available. Unable to choose between a six-pack of cherry cola or cream soda, she decided just to buy both.  
  
As she stepped back out into the warmth of the early evening, she opened one of the cans for the walk home. he She took a long draught and sighed happily. Her mood underwent a sudden and significant improvement, and as she walked, she looked at the people taking care of their houses with a bit more interest.  
  
As she got a better look at the man who was hammering his shutters, Kagome's newly jaunty step came to a sudden halt. Her brow furrowed in recognition of his pale hair, and his effortless grace, even while performing such a humble task. She stood on the sidewalk for a few seconds, blinking in surprise.  
  
It was stalker-guy! When she'd last seen him, he'd been trying to pry a loud, multicolored barnacle off his arm.  
  
Kagome started to feel a teeny little bit of guilt.  
  
Actually, she felt a massive amount of guilt. Her head hung slightly.  
  
Even if he was some kind of deviant, no one could truly deserve to be subjected to the likes of Keiko. After the other girl's descent, Kagome had only stuck around long enough to observe, point, and laugh at him for a little while. Then she'd realized that she had to get to a study group meeting, and had snuck off, abandoned him to the clutches of the permed velociraptor.  
  
Kagome's eyes snapped wide in horrified realization as the information in her head reconfigured itself in new and mortifying ways.  
  
He'd been walking when she'd run into him outside her house. At school, he'd run into her again between class times. He had tried to tell her that he actually attended the same college. He might have known her name because they had a mutual friend or something.  
  
And, if he lived on this street. . .  
  
Her house just happened to be between his house and their school. He'd just had the bad luck to bump into a hopeless paranoiac twice in one day.  
  
Kagome almost shriveled into the ground in her chagrin. She had wrongly accused him of following her around like a creep, and then gleefully left him with a backcombed piranha-woman.  
  
The joy of her cherry cola faded abruptly. She gave it a baleful glare, but the red can seemed to tell her that there would be no more sugary fun until she had apologized for her awful behaviour.  
  
Kagome approached his fence and cleared her throat. Gods, this was awkward.  
  
"Hi. Um, about earlier. . ." Her nervous words sounded slightly squeaky to her ears.  
  
Sesshou stiffened at the high-pitched sound. Lost in the depths of post- traumatic stress disorder, he came to the conclusion that it was the amazing Technicolor harpy from before. He'd shut her down repeatedly, and she'd followed him home from school to ask him out again!  
  
She was a menace. Remembering how she had looked at him, he suddenly felt exposed in his grey short-sleeved shirt. This was beyond the limits of his patience.  
  
He'd tried not to be mean, but look where that had got him.  
  
"Look, Keiko, I have no interest in you," Sesshou said from between clenched teeth, giving the nail a particularly hard thwack. "I will not be going dancing with you, going home to have a widdle hot-tub party with you," Kagome cringed, "fixing your friends up with my friends, or taking you shopping. Ever!"  
  
Sesshou barked that last word, and another loud bang of the hammer seemed to serve as punctuation. Through his tirade, he hadn't even bothered to turn around.  
  
Kagome felt like her back would break under all the remorse she was carrying. He thought that she was Keiko, and obviously she hadn't even seen the tip of the iceberg of their encounter earlier that day. Had he just said 'a widdle hot tub party'?  
  
The poor guy had to be utterly traumatized.  
  
She hesitantly approached, a pained smile on her face. "Hey," Kagome said weakly. "I don't know whether to laugh or be insulted."  
  
Sesshou turned, and looked incredibly relieved that she was wearing a red skirt and black blouse, rather than sporting the entire colour wheel. He sat down on his front step and put his hammer back in the toolkit. "Oh, it's you," he replied, slightly embarrassed by his outburst.  
  
Then, he regained his bearings. "Now who's stalking who?" he asked pointedly.  
  
Okay, fine, thought Kagome. She may have deserved that, but that didn't mean she was going to take it lying down.  
  
"So how'd your date with Keiko go?" she rejoined pertly, taking a seat on the step next to him.  
  
His eyes seemed to spark. "It didn't go. I had better things to do," Sesshou shot back, deadpan. "I mean, I spend all night peering through your windows with a camcorder. In the afternoon, I go through your garbage in the hopes that I'll find an envelope you've licked." Kagome rolled her eyes.  
  
"Once I add that to time spent stealing underwear off your laundry line for my collection, it's a wonder I do anything else," he continued, cocking an eyebrow at her.  
  
"You know, your sarcastic tone is identical to your normal tone," Kagome observed, grinning.  
  
"What sarcastic tone?" Sesshou asked levelly.  
  
Kagome's smile just grew. This was fun. "Oh, stop trying to creep me out. I'm sorry, okay? I was just a bit on edge today."  
  
"On edge?" Sesshou looked affronted. "You publicly accused me of being some kind of pervert, and then just. . . left me with that. . . thing!" He was the picture of outraged dignity.  
  
Kagome started to laugh. "I really am sorry about that," she said amid chuckles. "Truly, sincerely sorry."  
  
Sesshou looked at her with suspicion. She was sputtering now.  
  
"I ap-p-pologize, from the bottom of m-my heart. I-it was j-just. . . oh, you sh-should have just s-seen the look on your face when. . . and then, when she j-jammed your arm into her ch-chest. . ." Kagome was now laughing so hard that it was becoming difficult to breathe. "A-and th-then, she looked l-like she was about to g-g-grab your. . ." she gasped and doubled over, wiping a tear from her eye. "Anyway, I'm s-so sorry!"  
  
His eyes narrowed. "Thanks," he said coolly over her giggles. "Your obviously heartfelt regret touches me deep inside." His voice was devoid of all expression.  
  
Finally, her laughter started to wind down, and she smiled. "You have me at a bit of a disadvantage," Kagome said haltingly as her breathing returned to normal. "What's your name?"  
  
The corners of his mouth rose slightly as he met her cheerful gaze. "Nakamura Sesshou."  
  
Kagome rummaged through her plastic bag. "I'm Higurashi Kagome. Good to meet you." She grinned again.  
  
Her hand emerged from the bag holding a bright pink can.  
  
"Want a soda?"  
  
Sesshou looked at the girl next to him and felt the urge to smile. It had been a while since he'd met someone who was completely unintimidated by him. Actually, it had been a while since he'd met anyone, period. He was generally quite aloof, and people didn't initiate conversation with him. Then, if he broke out the chilly voice and the glare, they would usually give up, visibly shrink, and back away.  
  
Kagome, however, was smiling at him and offering him. . . a pink thing?  
  
He took the cold can. After doing fix-up jobs around the house this evening, the icy condensation felt good in his hand. "What on earth is this?" he asked.  
  
"You've never had cream soda before? It might be a bit much for your untrained palate," Kagome supplied in the voice of a connoisseur. "I have cherry coke too, if you'd prefer that." She took her book bag off her shoulder and laid it at her feet, so that she could rummage more freely in the plastic grocery bag. After some rustling sounds, she triumphantly presented him with another can. "Maybe you should start with this." Kagome replaced the pink drink in his hand with a red one.  
  
Sesshou shrugged, popped it open, and then took a swig.  
  
Ah. It was cold, good, and he could practically feel his teeth rotting out of his head.  
  
"That settles it," he said wryly. "You have it in for me. Your first attempt to kill me with Keiko failed, and now you're going for sugar poisoning." He took another gulp.  
  
"I'm a fiend," Kagome said in a scandalized tone. "How can they allow people like me to walk the streets?" He may have been complaining, but the can seemed to be emptying at a rapid rate. She watched him as he tilted his head back for another swallow. His hair seemed to glow in the light of the setting sun. He really was gorgeous, thought Kagome, surprised.  
  
"You know, if this nefarious plan doesn't work, I'll have to call Keiko back in," she continued in a grave voice. "She's my best and most lethal operative."  
  
Sesshou put the empty can down decisively and held his palm out towards Kagome. "In that case, I will succumb peacefully. Can I try the cream soda now?"  
  
Kagome laughed, and handed one over. Sesshou smiled faintly and watched her as he popped it open. She had a nice laugh. It sounded a bit familiar, for some reason. He hadn't really noticed before, but that might have been because she had been laughing at his expense at the time.  
  
"So," Kagome gestured towards the house. "Are you helping your parents out with the repairs and stuff?"  
  
"No, not exactly. They passed away a couple of years ago," he said, taking a sip and grimacing. Could this drink possibly have contained any more sugar? He didn't think so.  
  
"Oh," Kagome said softly. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."  
  
Sesshou looked up to see wide brown eyes and a sympathetic expression. "No, really, it's fine," he replied. For some unnameable reason, he wasn't uncomfortable talking to Kagome about this.  
  
"They were pretty old. When they adopted me, they had already been retired for a while. It was just their time." Her face was so expressive, he thought to himself. It was as if her every thought played across her delicate features.  
  
"You were adopted when you were a baby?" Kagome asked curiously.  
  
"I was four," he replied. His expression darkened. It had taken quite some time for him to be chosen by a family. He had been quiet and reserved as a child, and the couples who had come in had wanted happy, hyper children.  
  
Plus, there had been the issue of his name. His adopted parents told him that, from the moment he could talk, he had refused to answer to anything but Sesshou. He smiled faintly. His mother and father had just accepted it, changing his name legally. "Mom and Dad basically treated me like I was a small person."  
  
Kagome nodded. He obviously missed them. "Do you remember your biological parents?" She paused for a few seconds after asking. "I don't really remember my dad," she continued quietly. "He died when I was really young."  
  
Sesshou shook his head. "No, I don't remember anything. I was found as a newborn on someone's doorstep," he answered matter-of-factly. Kagome didn't detect any sadness in his face. "They said I couldn't have been more than a few hours old before I was brought in to the hospital and social services took me in. All I know about it is that my birthday is May 12th."  
  
Kagome was surprised. "Hey, I have the same birthday as you! It's only a month and a half from now. I'll be turning twenty." She shuddered. "I only hope my grandpa doesn't give me anything petrified or mummified," she went on with a grin.  
  
Sesshou looked at her strangely. "I'll be twenty, too."  
  
It seemed as though a lot of odd and coincidental things were happening today, he thought to himself. Earlier, he had been seeing things, like those marks on his arm. Then, there was Keiko. He shuddered. Keiko violated all laws of god and man.  
  
He'd also run into Kagome three times today, not that he really minded. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was staring off into the red sky as the sun disappeared completely, and the fading glow made the pale peach of her skin radiant.  
  
Kagome was unaware of Sesshou's scrutiny. As the last of the day's light was consumed by the city skyline, she sat up with a jolt. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "My mom will be worried about me. I'd better get home, she gets worked up about me walking around after dark."  
  
He nodded, and the two of them rose to their feet.  
  
Kagome looked up at Sesshou. "Anyway, I am sorry about earlier today. You know, the stalker thing," she said hesitantly.  
  
"It's okay." Sesshou said.  
  
"Thanks." She looked down at her shoe briefly, and then looked back up at him. "Well," Kagome smiled, "it was nice to meet you." He inclined his head slightly. Then, she turned, hefting her bag onto her shoulder, and walked off at a brisk pace.  
  
Sesshou watched her departure for a moment, and then turned back to the house to clean everything up. He examined the shutters with a critical eye. At least they didn't look like they were about to fall off anymore, he thought with relief. As he gathered the tools together, he noticed a plastic bag on the step.  
  
Kagome had left her drinks.  
  
She'd only been gone a few minutes. He might as well catch up with her and return it. After all, he reasoned, if he didn't, he might just end up drinking it all. He might even drink it all tonight, and that would be bad. The stuff was addictive.  
  
What exactly was cream soda made of, anyway? He kind of felt funny.  
  
If he had anymore, he would probably make himself sick. Having it around would just be tempting fate. For the sake of his own health, he should go after her.  
  
Yes, he decided, his mood light. He had better return it right away. Sesshou set the toolbox inside and locked the front door before setting out after Kagome with the bag in hand.  
  
He chose not to analyze why the thought of talking to her again was so appealing.  
  
**********  
  
Full night had fallen by the time Kagome reached the construction site. She clutched her arms and shivered. Without the light of the sun to warm her, the air suddenly seemed very cold, and this deserted area was creepy in the dark.  
  
She looked at the site curiously, wondering what the structure would be. Before, the space had been occupied by a couple of small shops. Now, the it was all exposed beams and scaffolding. From the size, she guessed that it would become a commercial development. The thought saddened her.  
  
Lately, it had seemed to her that the modern world had acquired a harshness that she found uncomfortable.  
  
Kagome shivered again, and this time it wasn't from cold. Something wasn't right around here, she realized with alarm. Was someone watching her? She looked around furtively. Her brow furrowed when she heard male voices coming from within the dark, cordoned off construction area. Ducking her head down, she walked faster, hoping to pass them before she attracted their attention.  
  
Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way.  
  
"Hey! Hey, little girl, come over here and say hello," someone shouted, slurring their words together. She groaned inwardly and walked on, ignoring him, but another voice soon joined the first.  
  
"Why are you taking off so fast? Don't you want to come and play with us?" This voice was deeper and twisted with dissipation. She heard many footsteps following her, and then laughter. She sped up even further. How many of them were there?  
  
Suddenly, someone grabbed her around the arm. Kagome shoved away and broke into a run, only to be stopped again by an iron grip.  
  
She wrinkled her nose in distaste. Obviously, bathing was not high on a gangster's priority list, because this guy was definitely a little ripe. "Give me any money you have," the man said, forcefully turning her to face him.  
  
Suddenly, Kagome felt very afraid. There were at least twelve guys facing her, and she could hear other voices from inside the half-erected building. To make it all worse, she didn't even have a wallet with her to give them. She'd spent the little cash she'd carried at the corner store, and all she had were her schoolbooks.  
  
"I - I don't have any money," she said, trying to sound placating as she retreated slowly, searching for an avenue of escape. "I only have my b- biology books-"  
  
As she spoke, she realized that they had gradually turned her around so that she was retreating towards the makeshift fencing of the site. Oh gods, she thought helplessly. This was not good at all. She was cornered. A couple of them blocked her when she tried to move sideways.  
  
"Biology?" the leader said softly. He moved closer to her and touched her shoulder, a speculative leer on his greasy face. He chuckled. "I think I know all I need to know about biology, unless you wanna teach me some more."  
  
Kagome recoiled in revulsion as his dirty fingers slid over her collarbone. She could feel his gaze crawling disgustingly over the curves of her body. She backed away reflexively. Then, something hit the back of her leg, causing her to tumble backwards into a pile of debris lying against the fence. Reaching behind her, she managed to find a long piece of pipe that was about an inch and a half in diameter. She grabbed it eagerly, and stood, brandishing it before the man who was now closing in with a lewd gleam in his eye.  
  
"Don't come any c-closer," she threatened unconvincingly. Her voice sounded desperate to her own ears. "Just leave me alone. I d-don't want to hurt you. All I want is to go home."  
  
The man laughed, and reached for her.  
  
**********  
  
As he walked up the dark street, Sesshou's brow furrowed in puzzlement. Where had Kagome gone? He thought that he would have caught up to her by now. Then, he heard voices.  
  
His eyes narrowed at the sight before him.  
  
There was a crowd of at least fifteen men by the construction site. Something told him that they weren't admiring the architecture. Their voices were raised in malicious pleasure, and they seemed to be cornering someone against the fence.  
  
Sesshou felt a sinking sensation in his stomach when he recognized the small figure.  
  
A couple of the guys must have been looking out for any interruptions, because one broke away and approached him with violence in his eyes.  
  
"Hey. Pretty boy," he growled. "You'd better stay out of this if you know what's good for you. We wouldn't want to mess up those looks of yours."  
  
Sesshou was barely listening. He was lost in a sudden influx of sensory information.  
  
Time seemed to slow to a crawl.  
  
Against the backdrop of distant traffic, he heard hearts beating quickly in excitement, and the soft whoosh of lungs reaching for breath.  
  
Suddenly, he could smell everything, though he kind of wished that wasn't the case.  
  
The smell of exhaust was strong, though there were no cars currently on the road. The odour was coloured by the city's oily residue, and the taint of garbage. Also, these guys were obviously strangers to the daily shower.  
  
Inhaling, he detected another, more pleasant scent. Somehow, he knew it. It bloomed on the olfactory landscape, like a blossom in a pile of refuse.  
  
It was Kagome, and she was afraid.  
  
Sesshou dropped the bag he'd been carrying and flashed forward. Somehow, he was moving faster than he'd ever moved in his life, and there was no time to think.  
  
**********  
  
Hiro inspected the white-haired guy in front of him with disdain. He was obviously a wuss. He was pretty enough to be a girl, for god's sake. He'd probably never been in a good fight in his entire life. One solid punch, and he'd be laid out.  
  
Then, maybe the boss would let Hiro have a turn with that hot, curvy little thing in the red skirt. He grinned at the thought. She smelled pretty, and he bet she'd be a screamer.  
  
Then, he noticed something strange.  
  
When had pretty-boy gotten those tattoos on his face? Those were kind of cool. Before Hiro had a chance to comment, the guy's eyes glowed red, and Hiro thought that perhaps he wasn't that pretty after all.  
  
The next thing Hiro knew, there was a blur, and something frighteningly strong had him by the throat. He felt the prick of claws breaking skin. Those strange glowing eyes, now much closer, turned back to yellow as he watched.  
  
Hiro promptly lost control of his bladder, and fainted.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshou dropped the thug as if he'd been burned. Well, he thought. That was anticlimactic. He caught a whiff of the man on the ground and covered his nose. Ugh. Anticlimactic and gross, Sesshou amended mentally. He looked up and saw that some of the other men who had been lying low in the site had noticed a disturbance and were headed over to him.  
  
Kagome, Sesshou thought.  
  
He looked up, searching for her.  
  
All he saw was a whirling, purple glow.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome quaked in her shoes, clutching the pipe and trying to think through her panic.  
  
The outlook was bleak. There were so many of them; there was no way she would be able to get out of this just by running.  
  
"I don't w-want to have to hurt you," she repeated, her voice trembling. The leader's hands were now on her waist, and he was dragging her close to him and laughing.  
  
She could feel his breath on her neck.  
  
Suddenly, a flood of strength filled her. Kagome's grip adjusted on the pipe, as the weight and shape of it became familiar in her hands. Operating on instinct alone, she raised her arm and sent a fist flying towards the guy's face. When he released her and dodged, she took advantage of the distance and brought the pipe up swiftly, slamming it into his crotch with an impact that sent shocks through her arm.  
  
He grabbed for her as he fell to the ground in agony, propelled by rage. "You fucking bitch," he gasped, coming at her like a maddened animal. She whirled expertly, using a jab with the end of the pipe to knock him flat onto his back.  
  
Kagome stared at where his inert form lay on the ground, stunned into immobility.  
  
How had she done that?  
  
She could feel energy coursing through her. She looked at the pipe in her hands, and her mouth fell open as she saw that both her body and the pipe were glowing purple.  
  
She looked up, shocked, only to see another man recover from his surprise and charge towards her. Effortlessly, she turned the five-foot-long length of metal in her hand, and planted it firmly on the ground. Then, she vaulted gracefully over him and slammed the end of her weapon into his temple from behind, knocking him out with an audible thud. As the others stood still in shock, Kagome turned and flung the staff out in wide arcs. The momentum of her swing knocked them onto their backs on the cold concrete with a speed and strength that made them quake with fear.  
  
Kagome's eyes darted quickly from side to side, surveying the scene. Most of the men were clumsily regaining their feet and fleeing.  
  
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned to see Sesshou, taking on a whole group of guys who were charging towards him from inside the construction site.  
  
At least, she thought it was Sesshou. He was moving so fast that she couldn't quite tell.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshou, tearing his attention away from the girl who'd just knocked a bunch of men onto their asses in about five seconds, watched as the remaining gang-members approached him.  
  
Tonight was definitely proving to be a bizarre end to an incredibly strange day.  
  
He could feel power moving through his body, as though a wall that had been holding him back had disappeared. He tensed his muscles experimentally. Sesshou was amazed at the strength that had lain dormant in him until tonight.  
  
His dreams had shown him what he could do. In dreams, he had learned the physics of his suddenly unfamiliar body.  
  
In dreams, he had trained.  
  
He shook his head at the peculiarity of it all.  
  
One of the gang members started yelling in what Sesshou assumed was meant to be a threatening fashion. "I bet you wish you hadn't come this way tonight, asshole!"  
  
Sesshou sighed. Couldn't this idiot see his comrade laid out on the ground where he'd pissed himself and passed out?  
  
Really, he thought, somewhat bored. The modern gang could stand to implement some kind of pre-recruitment IQ test. As it was, it seemed that membership was based on glue-sniffing capacity. He doubted that, between all of them, they had even half a brain.  
  
What a pathetic operation.  
  
As soon as he finished that thought, he was in motion. The thugs saw nothing. To their eyes, he had simply disappeared, and then reappeared over five suddenly unconscious bodies. The remaining men finally got a clue. They looked at each other, turned tail, and ran off to follow those who had fled after Kagome had attacked them.  
  
Kagome had seen it all. Still holding the pipe, she walked over as she slung her bag back over her shoulder.  
  
She and Sesshou just stared at one another for what seemed to be an endless moment.  
  
Sesshou broke the silence cautiously. "Um, you forgot your soda." He walked back to where he'd dropped the plastic bag and handed it to her.  
  
She accepted the bag and reached inside. They were still cool.  
  
Casually, she opened one and asked, "You are aware that you had stripes on your face for a while there, right?" She handed the can to him and opened another for herself, drinking deeply.  
  
Apparently, whupping ass made a girl thirsty.  
  
Sesshou nodded. "You were glowing purple."  
  
For some reason, neither of them was all that shocked at the general weirdness of the evening so far.  
  
Kagome seated herself on the kerb. Sesshou joined her.  
  
"So," he asked quietly, after taking a sip. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?" He was fascinated by her strength. Kagome had already intrigued him, and seeing her use all that skill only intensified it.  
  
Kagome shrugged, brow furrowing. She took a delaying swallow of her drink, not really knowing what to say. "Actually," she replied slowly, "I don't know. Weird, huh?"  
  
For a moment, she regretted her candor, but she had the feeling he would understand.  
  
It seemed like neither of them was, at that moment, a poster child for normal.  
  
Sesshou took another long drink from his soda, thinking about how he'd suddenly acquired super speed, strength, and claws.  
  
"I guess it's not that weird," he responded.  
  
Kagome watched him as he looked down at the pavement. He had been so fast, and inhumanly strong. And the markings. . .  
  
"So, what's your story? I mean, the stripes are almost gone now. I saw you fight too, and it was just incredible."  
  
"I wish I knew," Sesshou replied. He still wasn't sure what exactly was happening. First, the dreams had worried him, but he could safely say that they seemed positively comforting compared to recent developments.  
  
"We both had the cherry coke," Kagome rationalized weakly. "We should get in touch with the company, and get them to recall that batch or something. Or maybe we had too much sugar."  
  
Sesshou shook his head, playing along. "I started feeling weird after the cream soda. There's definitely something wrong with it."  
  
Despite themselves, they each shot a suspicious glance at the pink cans in their hands.  
  
Their thoughts were cut off by a weak voice.  
  
"Bitch," someone groaned. The pair turned to see the gang leader slowly crawling over to grab Kagome pathetically by the ankle. With a disgusted look on her face, Kagome quickly knocked him on the head again, laying him out at their feet with remarkable speed.  
  
She looked back up at Sesshou, only to see that his eyes had gone gold, and the stripes she had seen earlier were becoming faintly visible once more. Kagome touched his cheek curiously, and was stunned to see the markings darkening on the warm skin beneath her fingertips.  
  
She snatched her hand back when Sesshou made an odd sound in his throat. She blushed and started to apologize profusely.  
  
"Sorry!" she said. He watched as she got up and dusted herself off. "I didn't mean to be intrusive or anything." Kagome stood awkwardly for a moment. "Um, I guess I'll call the cops and say that I saw some kind of fight happen here."  
  
Sesshou nodded. His fingertips came to rest where hers had traced his markings. The skin there seemed to hum.  
  
"Goodnight, Kagome" he said with a small smile, getting up to leave.  
  
Kagome smiled back. "I'll see you around."  
  
With that, they each turned and walked home.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading. Your reviews really keep me going with this story. It's becoming a huge bloated monster. I really appreciate your comments.  
  
EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS go to CX-chan for her invaluable help answering my questions. Without her gracious assistance, this chapter would have taken a lot longer to come out. She rocks my world.  
  
Ch. 4 has been revised, and this chapter has been reworked because I'm not so good with fight scenes.  
  
For those who like to know these things, the title of this story and the chapter titles are from "This Mess We're In" by PJ Harvey.  
  
***What follows is for people whom I have inadvertently confused. IF YOU'RE HAVING NO TROUBLE FOLLOWING THE TWO TIMELINES SO FAR AND WANT TO BE UNSPOILED AS DRIVEN SNOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, SKIP THE REST OF THE NOTE.***  
  
It's come to my attention that there is some confusion about what's going on in this story. Well, I knew there would be confusion, but I don't want to cause any nasty discomfort.  
  
I'll try to explain a little about it here. I'm basically telling two different stories at the same time. One's occurring in the feudal age, and one's occurring in the present, when Kagome is 19 and has apparently stopped going through the well. Many, many things have yet to be explained about Sesshou and Kagome, and also about Sesshoumaru and Kagome (I like to call it suspense, others may call it inspiration to strangle me). At the moment, events in the past and present are unfolding independently of one another.  
  
Obviously, all of this ends up being one story. If you just hang in there, things should become clear as we go along.  
  
I'm sorry if I've been driving anyone crazy with my narrative strategy, but I really couldn't think of any other way to accomplish what I want to. Thanks for your patience! 


	7. 6 Don't Ever Change

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 6: Don't Ever Change  
  
Disclaimers: I do not own the Takahashi-verse, but I do own my ass. Don't sue me for it, or I'll be left assless.  
  
Rating: For now, it's all still PG13. Eventually there will be some adult stuff. I will continue to cut a PG13 or R version for ff.net. NC17 material will be reserved for MediaMiner.org posts, and will be eventually posted at the address in my profile.  
  
Summary: Kagome has gone back where she belongs, but so has someone else. What exactly happened? Sesshou and Kagome don't know yet, but the past is about to collide with the present. Kag/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: Tensions are running high. Kagome wants her mom (and don't we all?). Sesshoumaru pets the fluffy and takes a road trip. Rin turns into a snowball. Jaken is generally unhappy, not that he's usually a ray of sunshine. Souta hopes that Kagome will turn into Bruce Lee (and don't we all?). Chapter summaries continue to be wildly misleading, offering the gentle readers little to no useful information. Sorry about that. (Edited Jul7/03)  
  
Soundtrack (available at my website): New Order - "Regret"  
  
*****  
  
---Sengoku Jidai---  
  
Kagome woke with a start from a troubled sleep, and stared up at the ceiling of her darkened chamber. The air of the room seemed to seethe with stifling tension, but she knew that it was all in her mind.  
  
Her worries seemed to intensify with each passing day. So many hardships were to come.  
  
Could she survive this?  
  
The young woman felt a surge of almost paralyzing anxiety that had become familiar over the past week. The prospect of hunting the Shikon shards all over again filled her with fear. Even if she managed somehow to collect them on her own, she had no doubt that Naraku would be hard at her heels, royally pissed at her for shattering the jewel when it had been in his grasp. In addition to Naraku, there would be others, both youkai and human, who would not hesitate to kill her for the shards. If one added those who might just want to kill her recreationally. . .  
  
Tallying the risks, Kagome felt a chill.  
  
Could she survive?  
  
Her fingers curled hard into her palms. In the pre-dawn darkness, it was difficult to gather optimism for the task ahead. The hope that usually fortified her was worn thin. She had to admit to herself that her chances of accomplishing such a mission on her own were dismal. Even with Inuyasha, Sango, Shippou and Miroku, it hadn't exactly been easy.  
  
Her eyes closed as she thought of her friends.  
  
What were they doing right now? Her anger at Inuyasha had long since faded, and now she just missed him terribly. She missed all of them. Her brow furrowed with worry. How was Sango? Naraku had taken the shard from Kohaku's back, and now he was forever lost. How was Shippou doing without her? He would be so upset at her disappearance, but she knew that the others would take care of him.  
  
Kagome hoped that they, at least, were together, and looking after one another.  
  
Slowly, the young woman became aware of a small, warm weight curled against her side. One of Rin's hands rested beneath her rounded cheek, while the other firmly gripped the sleeve of Kagome's robe.  
  
She's afraid that I'll leave without saying goodbye, Kagome thought fondly. She gently smoothed the hair back from Rin's face.  
  
Sesshoumaru was raising a human girl, marveled Kagome. It was so incongruous that she shook her head.  
  
Then, Kagome mentally smacked herself for thinking of him.  
  
Today, she would leave this place, and begin a journey with an uncertain end. The two days since that aberrant episode in the hallway had seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, but in other ways, they had felt like forever.  
  
After the kiss, she had dreaded seeing him again. Even now, the thought of it made her knees weak, but she didn't understand what had brought it on. One moment, she'd been spitting mad. In the next, she had wanted him with a frightening intensity.  
  
It was disturbing, to say the least.  
  
Then, as time had stretched on without any sign of Sesshoumaru, she had found herself growing even more nervous and confused.  
  
If she had learned anything about Sesshoumaru since he'd first appeared in her life, it was that he rarely acted impulsively or without a purpose. Perhaps, she thought in her mounting paranoia, the whole thing had been an attempt to keep her off-balance and gain power over her.  
  
However, thought Kagome, that theory would only go so far. He'd never been one to hide his motives in order to get what he wanted; he just didn't seem to feel any need to. Generally, he would show up and say things like 'Tell me where father's grave is or die,' or 'Give me Tetsusaiga or die.'  
  
There really wasn't much room for ambiguity there.  
  
If he wanted to keep her off-balance, it seemed more likely that he would have dropped a few death-threats. It wasn't as though she was anywhere close to him in strength.  
  
And, if he'd wanted to use this. . . attraction against her, why did it seem like he was as eager to avoid her company as she was to avoid his?  
  
Kagome frowned, and a frustrated sigh escaped her lips. Her head was beginning to ache, and it was sure to be a long day. There would be time enough to worry when the sun came up.  
  
She closed her eyes, and tried to doze.  
  
In the morning, she would start a new life.  
  
She could only hope that it would be a long one.  
  
**********  
  
When Kagome opened her eyes once more, Rin was tugging at her hand.  
  
"Good morning!" the little girl chirped brightly. She looked like she was bearing good news, which Kagome could really use right now. She was sick and tired of brooding over her uncertain fate.  
  
"Good morning, Rin." Kagome sat up sleepily, noting that Rin was already dressed and ready for the day. What time was it?  
  
The child grinned. "Sesshoumaru-sama wants to talk to you." The older girl's face fell. "Maybe this means you can stay," Rin continued, unable to hide her excitement at the prospect.  
  
Somehow, Kagome doubted Rin's interpretation.  
  
"Thanks for telling me." She smiled. The girl was so adorable, but it wouldn't be right to get her hopes up. "I don't think I'll be staying here very much longer, though." She hugged Rin before she pushed the covers back, and rose from the futon to get dressed.  
  
"But Kagome is so much more fun than Jaken!" Rin piped, looking up at her beseechingly,  
  
The image of the cranky old youkai sprang to Kagome's mind. "I should hope so!" the young woman replied with a grin.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshoumaru would have liked nothing better than to go on ignoring Kagome's presence. However, he had sent Rin to bring her to him, as there were pressing matters to discuss. Today, she was to depart.  
  
He would be able to forget about the debacle in the hallway once she was gone.  
  
For the past two days, thoughts of it had haunted him. He would never have believed that she, a human, would taste so sweet.  
  
The memory of the way her pulse thrummed beneath his tongue as her scent enveloped him still had the power to heat his body.  
  
The youkai lord turned to the window and looked out over his birthright and inheritance. For years, he had guarded this territory. As the last full- blooded heir to his line, he would continue to do so for hundreds more. Absently, he raised a hand to his shoulder to touch the tangible proof of his heritage.  
  
This, he thought, was the pelt of his house. It was the emblem of a youkai bloodline that had nearly fallen due to a human's power over his father.  
  
Despite that knowledge, he thought bitterly, he had allowed himself to fall prey to the same weakness. The warm smell of the girl seemed to haunt him.  
  
Then, the sound of hesitant steps interrupted Sesshoumaru's dark thoughts, and brought him face to face with their cause.  
  
Kagome stood timidly in the doorway, staring at the floor. "Rin told me to come and see you," she ventured. Uncertainty was written all over her face.  
  
Sesshoumaru felt a hint of satisfaction. Finally, he thought, the girl showed a proper amount of deference.  
  
He brutally squashed a brief glimmer of disappointment.  
  
"Today," he said in a tone that brooked no argument, "you will leave. You will be brought to the South."  
  
Kagome glanced up in surprise, her embarrassment forgotten.  
  
His golden eyes met hers as he continued. "It cannot have escaped your attention that your level of skill as a fighter is pathetic."  
  
Though she knew there was a kernel of truth to his statement, hearing it stated so baldly made her hackles rise.  
  
"You could no doubt be killed effortlessly by any wild beast, let alone any youkai worthy of the title," he continued dispassionately.  
  
Kagome's brown eyes hardened. Her chin rose, and she crossed her arms over her chest. Sesshoumaru chose not to examine the reasons for his sudden feeling of anticipation.  
  
Her lips parted to speak, but Sesshoumaru went on relentlessly in that maddeningly calm voice of his.  
  
"I have no desire to see Naraku achieve his objective." Sesshoumaru's eyes hardened at the thought of the upstart hanyou. "In addition, your passage from this world would cause Rin to mourn, and disturb my peace."  
  
Kagome's annoyance faded into confusion. She'd thought, initially, that he was just going to insult her and then dump her somewhere to fend for herself. Now, however, she had to rapidly evaluate. What exactly was he getting at? She blinked.  
  
"So," she interjected slowly, "what exactly does this have to do with my going to the South?"  
  
"There is a strong miko there who could prepare you for combat." Sesshoumaru could almost see the gears of her mind turning.  
  
"Obviously, you have spent very little time developing what meager skills you have." He cringed inwardly at the gibing tone of his voice. Why was he constantly moved to goad her? Despite his annoyance at his lack of restraint, he frowned when she did not take the bait.  
  
Kagome's head was tilted in consideration. She had stopped listening.  
  
Huh, she thought to herself. The more she ruminated on it, the more she wished it had occurred to her before. How many times had she required rescuing? How many times had her peril distracted her friends from a fight, with near disastrous results?  
  
She'd known from the first that she had some kind of power that remained untapped. Her nose crinkled as she recalled how the centipede youkai's arms had fallen off during her first trip through the well. Eww. Whatever she'd done then, it had been gross, but effective.  
  
Now, she could have the chance to develop that strength. Maybe, for once, she would be able to rely on herself.  
  
Maybe she would be able to survive this after all.  
  
Sesshoumaru, she thought in shock, was actually helping her. Her mind boggled at the insight. She looked at him once more, only to see that his perfect face remained as cold and inscrutable as ever.  
  
The aforementioned youkai had been watching as Kagome's thoughts played across her face. The girl was utterly transparent. Surprise, realization, annoyance, disgust, bewilderment, and hope passed over her features in rapid succession.  
  
He blinked when she met his eyes and gifted him with a dazzling smile.  
  
"Thanks!" she said brightly, startling Sesshoumaru. "I wish I'd thought of that myself. Training, I mean. There wasn't any time for that before, since we were constantly hunting for the shards." Kagome frowned slightly. "I don't really have the time now, either. Every day that passes is an opportunity for Naraku to find more shards, but it's a sacrifice I'll just have to make. I need to learn how to take care of myself." She nodded once in determination.  
  
Sesshoumaru couldn't think of anything to say in response. Kagome had turned that sunny smile on him again, and was showing gratitude for his aid to her. For some reason, he hadn't expected her to have that much common sense.  
  
Kagome looked up at the ceiling and bit her lip, deep in thought once more, before returning her gaze to his.  
  
"Will it be possible to make a couple of stops on the way?" she asked. "They are in the same area."  
  
Sesshoumaru saw no problem with her request. With her and Rin on a dragon mount, travel would be relatively quick.  
  
He made a gesture of assent and asked, "Where must you go?"  
  
"I should stop at the village, and tell Kaede what I'm doing." Kagome paused for a beat. "I also need to go to a well. Both are near Inuyasha's forest."  
  
Sesshoumaru frowned at the thought of going anywhere near Inuyasha's woods, and then raised an eyebrow in curiosity.  
  
"A well?" he asked. "I assure you, there is no shortage of water in this fortress, should you require it."  
  
Kagome seemed unsure of what to say. "Actually, it's a dry well," she elaborated.  
  
"A dry well?" he repeated. That was even stranger. His eyebrow rose another few millimeters as he rapidly revised his opinion of Kagome's common sense.  
  
She sighed and closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temple. How could she explain this?  
  
"I have to see my family, to tell them I might not be back for a while." Kagome paused. "I. . . I was not born into this time. My home is on the other side of the well, in the future, hundreds of years from now. I'm only here because the Shikon no Tama was inside me, and the well lets me travel to between eras."  
  
The girl waited anxiously as he absorbed the information.  
  
"We will leave shortly," he replied after a short pause, turning back towards the window. "Ask Jaken to bring you your things. And tell Rin to prepare herself for the journey."  
  
Sesshoumaru stood silently for a few minutes after Kagome's scent left the room. He'd been skeptical, but the girl was incapable of lying. She had to be telling the truth.  
  
He had suspected that she did not belong in this world. For the first time, being right felt vaguely hollow.  
  
**********  
  
The landscape sped beneath them, and Kagome could only watch in wonder as it flew past.  
  
They'll never believe this back home, she thought wryly. Actually, she'd been through a lot of things that no one in their right mind would believe.  
  
She was seated on a two-headed dragon's back, with Rin in front of her, heading with all speed towards Kaede's village. Sesshoumaru and Jaken were flying some distance in front of them, by Ah-Un's heads.  
  
Flight was not exactly a new experience for Kagome. After all, she had been on Kirara's back many times in the past. However, Kirara didn't usually get up to this altitude.  
  
The rush of wind in Kagome's ears precluded any conversation, so she merely held Rin's hand and watched the world go by. She was glad that she could spend a bit more time with the little girl before they parted ways.  
  
Rin was sitting peacefully as though this was all very familiar to her. However, Kagome could not help but look around her with wide eyes. Fields and forests seemed to paint a picture in gradations of green, cut only by the rock of mountains and the silver gleam of rivers. Human settlements speckled the land here and there, but it was nothing like the dense grid of modern Japan. The air was pure and clean, lacking the yellowish haze that blurred the skies of her time.  
  
It was also cold, up this high. Kagome shivered, and then noticed that Rin's teeth were chattering. Her nose was also starting to run in the way that kids' noses tended to do, regardless of the era.  
  
Kagome pulled Rin closer into her arms, attempting to shelter the small girl from the thin, brisk wind. The child snuggled into her embrace and sniffled in contentment.  
  
Looking back at the two girls, Sesshoumaru saw that they were trembling with cold. He exhaled in irritation.  
  
Humans needed so much looking after.  
  
After a moment's thought, he removed the pelt from his arm and handed it to Jaken, gesturing for him to bring it back to them. Jaken looked utterly horrified. "But, Sesshoumaru-sama!" he cried, beak opening and closing uselessly. At his master's look, he bowed his head and clambered towards the two humans, his scandalized mutterings lost to gusts of air. He thrust the fur towards Kagome with thinly veiled disgust.  
  
She shot Sesshoumaru a look of appreciation before she wrapped it around herself and Rin. Kagome carefully tucked it around the little girl's face to seal her as much as possible from the chill. Before Kagome's eyes turned back to the bird's eye view of feudal Japan, she noticed that Rin was casually wiping her nose on the pelt, and laughed to herself.  
  
She was sure that Sesshoumaru would be thrilled.  
  
**********  
  
It didn't take long before they arrived at the village. Luckily, Kagome thought, they had left the Ah-Un some distance away. She could only imagine the blind panic that would have followed had two youkai and a dragon dropped into the middle of town with no warning.  
  
As it was, they were attracting enough attention. For her part, Kagome was relieved that the villagers had become accustomed to her strangeness, and were not too shocked to see that her companions were equally bizarre.  
  
The procession approaching Kaede's hut was definitely out of the ordinary. Sesshoumaru appeared as regal and perfect as ever, not one hair out of place. He had declined the pelt after they had reached the ground, looking at it with mild distaste; he had noticed that parts of it looked a little damp, and that Rin's nose was suddenly and suspiciously dry. Since he hadn't requested its return, the child had wrapped herself in the fur completely, and resembled nothing so much as a furry tumbleweed. Jaken was hopping along at the rear, shaking his head in disapproval and waving the staff of heads threateningly at the villagers.  
  
Kagome waved sheepishly at the people who were brave enough to greet her, while Sesshoumaru ignored them. Rin peered around her curiously. It had been a while since she had been in a human settlement for more than a few minutes. Jaken kept shaking his head and muttering.  
  
"Kagome!" Kaede had heard the buzz of hushed conversation and come to the door to investigate. "What happened? We thought you might be dead! Where have you been? Will you be staying?" Kagome shook her head, and the old woman stopped short as she recognized the Lord of the Western Lands and his entourage.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked Kagome in a gravelly whisper. "Are you in trouble?"  
  
Did the hag really think he couldn't hear her? Sesshoumaru sniffed in disdain, and immediately regretted it when he got a noseful of eau de villager.  
  
Kagome took Kaede by the arm and led her into the hut. With a look, Sesshoumaru sent Jaken and Rin off to explore the village peacefully. He followed the women inside, projecting an air of antipathy.  
  
"I'm okay. I was injured, but I've been staying with Sesshoumaru," Kagome told the aged miko. The older woman shot Kagome a look that said quite clearly, 'are you insane?'  
  
"Have you seen the others? Are they all right?" Kagome went on to ask.  
  
"Yes, though they worry about you. I heard about what happened. I thought that light looked familiar." Kaede steadily met Kagome's eyes. "Kagome, you did the right thing. Inuyasha is not having a very good time of it, I'd wager."  
  
When she'd last seen the shard hunters, it had seemed as though no one had been too keen on talking to the hanyou. He had waited in silent worry as the others had prodded Kaede for news.  
  
"Shippou is heartbroken over your absence. Sango mourns her brother. Miroku tries to distract them both, with varying degrees of success."  
  
Kagome felt a pang for the little fox and her friends. "The monk's been getting Hiraikotsu over the head again, hasn't he?" she asked dryly.  
  
"Strangely, no," the older miko responded, seeming surprised. Kagome blinked. Miroku's hands weren't as grabby as usual? Morale really must be low. Her brows drew together in concern.  
  
"Kaede, I'm sure I'll see them again," the young woman continued seriously, "I just have to go away for a while to take care of something. Next time they come here, could you tell them that I'm all right? Especially Shippou?"  
  
Kaede looked meaningfully towards Sesshoumaru, who was the very picture of apathy. "Will it be true?" the old woman asked, uneasy.  
  
"I'm going to the South. I need to start collecting the shards as soon as possible, but before I do that, I have to train. Sesshoumaru told me about a miko there who could teach me."  
  
The old woman's expression turned thoughtful as she looked into the fire. The South, eh? If what she'd heard had been correct, this might be a good idea for Kagome. She had shown in the past that she had an innate power not unlike that of Kikyou.  
  
That Sesshoumaru would have suggested such an idea, however, was unexpected. Why would a youkai send a miko to learn how to fight his kind? It was strange, indeed. Kaede discreetly peered over at the youkai lord, and noticed the intent, almost heated way he watched the young woman when she was unaware of it.  
  
Perhaps, she thought to herself, it wasn't that strange after all. Kaede had seen enough in her time on to know that bizarre things happened every day.  
  
"I am glad that you wish to refine your skills, Kagome. However, you must be aware that Naraku is likely gathering shards as we speak." Kaede turned to throw more wood into the fire.  
  
Kagome took a deep breath. "That's why I need to do this. If I'm to collect them, I'll need all the power I can get. Either I take the time to become stronger now, or I'll suffer for the lack of it later. Even if I develop the abilities I have, I'm not sure it will be enough."  
  
Kaede nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, The Lord of the Western Lands' gaze, still trained on Kagome, seemed to darken.  
  
"I'll tell them what you've said." She turned towards Sesshoumaru, noting how his eyes flicked away to look anywhere but at the girl in front of her. "Come back to visit when you can."  
  
The old woman smiled. "Good luck."  
  
**********  
  
It was late morning when the group reached the edge of the forest. Kagome looked around at the familiar trees.  
  
She thought back to the first time she'd arrived in this age, and seen Inuyasha sealed near the well. The mossy ground surrounding the blessed tree was dappled with the sunlight that shone through the forest cover. It looked much the same as it had that first day, but her circumstances had changed so much.  
  
Kagome turned to Rin, who was wandering this way and that like an air-borne dandelion puff. "We're almost there," she said softly. The girl perked up.  
  
Then, Kagome led the way through a gap in the trees, and walked into the clearing.  
  
Sesshoumaru and Jaken halted in the meadow behind her. Jaken had gone blissfully quiet during the walk. His green face was pinched tight with his disapproval over the proceedings. Gods, he thought to himself. The indignity of following these human females around was almost beyond bearing! However, he was sure that Sesshoumaru-sama had some sort of plan. Jaken looked darkly at the child, who was currently running in a circle around him. He impotently shook the staff of heads at her. She ignored him.  
  
The taiyoukai studied the well curiously. It was hard to believe that such a plain thing could be a portal between worlds, but he could sense the magic working here. His brother's scent was all over these woods, he thought with distaste. However, the air of this clearing bore the girl's olfactory mark, as well as the musty smell of youkai remains.  
  
Kagome turned to Sesshoumaru. "How much time can I have?" she asked matter- of-factly.  
  
"We will leave at sunset," he replied in a terse voice.  
  
Kagome nodded her agreement, took a deep breath, and opened her hand to look at her palm. There it was: the one shard she had managed to find in the grass of another clearing where she had lost everything.  
  
It glinted pink in the sunlight.  
  
Closing her fist around it once again, she climbed over the edge of the well, and was gone.  
  
**********  
  
One rung.  
  
Two rungs.  
  
Three. Four.  
  
Kagome tried to distract herself from the thought of the goodbyes that were to come. Just the act of climbing out of the well's darkness filled her with anticipation for the comforts of her home and family. It made the dangers of the feudal age seem like nightmares that she could ignore until they went away.  
  
If only, she thought to herself, she could just bask in the glow of her mom's smile, bicker with Souta, and listen to her grandpa's rambling until everything sorted itself out.  
  
She steeled herself. It has to be me, she thought. I have to go back there.  
  
She exited the well-house and blinked up into the Tokyo sky, only to feel someone grab her arm right away.  
  
"Kagome!" Souta greeted her. "You were gone so long! What were you doing? Did you bring Inuyasha?"  
  
A pained smile stretched across her face. "No, Souta. Are Mama and Grandpa home?"  
  
Souta nodded, took her by the hand, and tugged her inside. "Mama, Grandpa! Kagome's back."  
  
Kagome's eyes closed in happiness when her mother emerged from the living room and enveloped her in a hug. "Kagome! Are you going to go to school tomorrow? How long are you staying?"  
  
Grandpa appeared, only to say, "You don't have to worry about going for a while, granddaughter! I've informed them that you are in bed with a broken leg and pinkeye. Your friends sent you a nice card for your osteoporosis problem, and Hojou brought you a moxibustion kit." He nodded his approval. "You have some very thoughtful acquaintances, Kagome. You should be thankful."  
  
She let out a long-suffering sigh as she exited Mrs. Higurashi's embrace and hugged her grandfather. "Oh, Grandpa. How are you?"  
  
"Ah, I have a bit of rheumatism lately, but nothing compared to your health problems," he replied with a sly wink.  
  
"Grandpa!" Kagome chided good-naturedly. Though they occasionally annoyed her to death, she loved her family to pieces. Her face fell slightly, as she remembered that she only had a few hours to spend with them.  
  
For a split second, Mrs. Higurashi saw a deep sadness pass through her daughter's eyes. Something was going on, and she was sure that she wouldn't like it.  
  
Unaware of the subtext, Souta rejoined the chaos. "So what kind of monsters did you fight this time, Kagome? Did Inuyasha rip them all to shreds? It must have been tough. You haven't been back for weeks!"  
  
Kagome firmly interrupted what looked to be the beginning of a long line of questions. "I can't stay long, and I have lots to tell you. Plus," she went on, shamefaced, "I've kind of lost everything, so I'll have to get some stuff together before I go back."  
  
Three heads nodded simultaneously, and Kagome felt a pang. They were all so willing to help her and support her, even though she knew that it was hard sometimes. She showed up suddenly and sometimes infrequently, but she knew that her family would stop whatever they were doing if she needed them.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi walked briskly towards the coffee table and picked up a pen and paper. "All right," she declared in a businesslike tone. "Let's make a list. Do you need more first aid supplies?"  
  
**********  
  
Some time later, after a rather frantic shopping trip and an early dinner, Kagome sat in the living room surrounded with supplies. She had a new box of bandages and disinfectant, tons of instant food, clothes that were suitable for training, toiletries, her refilled prescription, a new sleeping bag, and various other odds and ends. She even had a huge frame backpack. Her family sat comfortably around her.  
  
"You need something big that won't hurt to carry around, Kagome," her mother said. "This is perfect for camping and trekking for long periods of time, and the hip strap will make it easier to carry. You just told us that you don't know how long you'll be, and that you'll be training and traveling."  
  
Mrs. Higurashi waved the expense aside, along with Kagome's protests.  
  
"It will make your life easier," she countered in a firm tone, "and I'll worry less. Take it."  
  
Kagome started to pack, and told them more about her plans. The mention of training sent Souta into a near-frenzy of inquisitiveness.  
  
"You're really going to train to fight? That's so unbelievably cool!" His eyes glazed over with images from his favorite martial arts movies.  
  
"It's not that kind of training, Souta." Kagome replied, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "It will have more to do with my miko abilities." She paused, and a wrinkle appeared on her forehead. "At least, I think."  
  
As Kagome tried to remember what Sesshoumaru had told her about the miko, her grandfather Grandfather offered his opinion of the proceedings. "For generations, we have been a shrine family," he intoned with enormous gravity. "It is good that you are going to develop these skills that have been passed down to you. Through the ages-"  
  
She felt a twinge of anxiety. Really, she had no idea what to expect. She wished that she'd asked him for more information. "Sesshoumaru didn't really tell me too much about the woman I'll be learning from, besides the fact that she's strong," Kagome continued.  
  
"Sesshoumaru?" Souta exclaimed. "Isn't he the guy who's tried to kill you and Inuyasha a bunch of times?" Grandpa and Mrs. Higurashi shot her concerned looks at this tidbit of information.  
  
"Yeah, he's Inuyasha's older brother, and he's not exactly the friendliest youkai in the woods," Kagome said wryly.  
  
Her life was so incredibly weird.  
  
"Training with this miko was his idea. For some reason, he's been really helpful lately. He pretty much saved my life, after I lost the others." A memory of the kiss flashed into her mind, but was quickly banished. Again.  
  
The afternoon shadows were lengthening. Soon, she would have to leave.  
  
"My mission could take a long time. I don't know when I'll be able to come back," she said, injecting optimism into her words and trying to look cheerful.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi watched her daughter's expression with a perceptive eye.  
  
"Now that I have to find the shards all over again," Kagome persisted, "I won't have much time to spare. I want to get to them before Naraku manages to, because the more he finds, the stronger he gets. So even if I'm not back for a few months, try not to worry. I'll come home as soon as I can."  
  
The sky was darkening.  
  
Kagome grabbed Souta into a strong hug. "Souta, you're a good kid," she whispered affectionately. "Take care of Mama and Grandpa for me, okay? Next time I see you, I'll show you some moves." She grinned, and a tear came to her eye. By the time she returned, her little brother might not be so little anymore.  
  
Then she turned to her grandfather, and gave him an equally fierce hug. "Ow!" he protested good-naturedly. "Not so hard! I'm too old for this rough treatment!" The strength of his answering embrace belied his words.  
  
"Gramps, try not to make my diseases too gross, all right?" she admonished. "No running sores or anything. I don't want people thinking I'm a leper when I get back. My social life is already damaged enough, with me not being here most of the time."  
  
He offered a toothy smile. "Don't you worry, my cute grand-daughter. I have a list of good ones that I haven't used yet, and I don't think any of them are contagious." He looked towards the ceiling in consideration.  
  
"Though, I might have to check," he mumbled.  
  
The sun was disappearing behind buildings.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi stood, helped Kagome put her backpack on, and adjusted it until it was properly fitted. "I'll walk you to the well-house, and help you get the bike over," she said.  
  
And, she thought to herself, she was going to find out what Kagome wasn't telling her.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome tested the weight on her back as they walked towards the well. Her mother was watching her in a way that made her uneasy.  
  
"Wow," she said lamely, attempting to fill the silence. "You were right about this pack, Mama. It's a lot better! Definitely more comfortable."  
  
When they reached the darkness of the well-house, Mrs. Higurashi laid a hand on her daughter's arm.  
  
"Kagome, I can see that something's up," she said gently. "Just tell me what's going on. Tell me what's bothering you."  
  
She looked at her mom, at everything comfortable and familiar to her, and suddenly she couldn't bear it anymore.  
  
"Mama," Kagome began as she memorized her mother's gently smiling face, "I have to tell you, there is a chance-" her voice cut off abruptly, unsure of how to continue. She tried again.  
  
"I don't want to do this, but I have to. Even if I become stronger, I don't know if. . ." Kagome paused again, willing the words to come to her, as her mother watched with concern. "It will be so dangerous, and without the others. . ." her voice trailed off, and then she started speaking quickly, almost stumbling over the words.  
  
"Oh, mama, the chances that I'll make it back aren't good at all, and I'm just so s-scared." Her voice cracked, a dam broke, and the tears that had been standing in her eyes started to spill down her cheeks.  
  
"Why does it have to be me?" Kagome asked helplessly.  
  
For an endless moment, the only thing Mrs. Higurashi felt was a cold, leaden weight over her heart. Her worst fears threatened to overwhelm her. She stood silently until the numbness passed.  
  
Then, she looked upon her daughter with wondering eyes.  
  
How had this courageous girl sprung of her own flesh and blood?  
  
Kagome had been through so much, despite her youth. The past two years of her life had been a constant battle in a distant, unfamiliar time. Yet, through all these tests, her heart had remained strong, and she still held fast to her ideals.  
  
Her absence had been hard on the family, too. Though it remained unspoken, they lived with the shared dread that she might be injured or worse. She could die alone, centuries away from those that loved her most, and they would never know.  
  
Kagome's mother had had nightmares in which she waited for years with no sign. She had dreamt that she remained bound to the shrine house by a fading hope for her daughter's return, without the solace of a grave, or the balm of a place to grieve her.  
  
Yes, it had been difficult for all of them, and it would soon become harder.  
  
Every fiber of her being screamed with the instinct to keep her baby from harm. She had a sudden, almost irresistible urge to grab Kagome and drag her back into the house. She could fill the well with concrete, and prevent her from ever going back. . .  
  
However, in her heart, Mrs. Higurashi knew that she could never bring herself to stifle those qualities that she loved so dearly in her daughter. Tears filled her eyes as she gathered Kagome into a hug.  
  
"If you did not go back - if you just stayed here and hid, though you knew what could happen - would you be able to live with yourself?" she asked gently.  
  
Kagome cried harder and shook her head, fingers curling into the back of her mother's blouse as she buried her face against her shoulder.  
  
"I don't want to go b-back there, mama. I want to s-stay, but I can't just hide." Though her tears soaked the material of her mother's blouse, and her voice was choked with tears, each syllable resounded with will.  
  
The mother closed her eyes and smoothed the daughter's hair with a shaking hand, comforting them both.  
  
"That," Mrs. Higurashi replied softly, "is why it has to be you."  
  
Her heart welled with anguish, pride, and love.  
  
Sniffling, Kagome seemed to calm.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi's embrace tightened, and she pressed a kiss against her child's temple, like she had so many times as she'd grown up. "You'll return," she whispered fiercely. "A mother knows."  
  
She continued to stroke Kagome's hair as the sobs subsided. Kagome didn't seem to want to leave her arms. She rested her cheek on the top of her daughter's head. How long will it be, she thought, before I see you again?  
  
The alternative was too awful to contemplate.  
  
"And when you come back," she said in a speculative tone, "I'll make oden." Against her shoulder, she felt a smile emerge through the tears.  
  
The younger woman sniffled again. "Oden?" She perked up slightly. "Odenodenoden. . ." Kagome's voice was tenuous at first, but gradually gained in strength.  
  
The weight of her fears was lessening.  
  
"When you come back." Mrs. Higurashi's voice was firm.  
  
She smiled.  
  
Though neither of them could see it, they both felt the sun sink beneath the horizon.  
  
She shut her eyes tightly, allowed herself one last squeeze, and let her daughter go.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note: Not much of the funny in this one, huh? This is actually only part of the chapter I intended to write, but it was taking forever, so maybe this could be thought of as the longest teaser in the vast annals of recorded time. I'm still in the process of revising Ch. 5 as well.  
  
I now have a notify list for this story, so if you want to be emailed in case of updates, hit the webpage link in my profile.  
  
My updates might not be as frequent now, since:  
  
-the going is getting very tough for me. Sometimes, I can't stand this  
story, let alone the thought of writing more of it.  
  
-the chapters seem to want to challenge War and Peace to a duel. Tolstoy  
will, of course, prevail, but still. . .  
  
-my plot is running away from me and seeking shelter in opium-dens. The  
idea of pink bunnies hopping in and killing Naraku with hugs and  
cuteness? Let's just say, sometimes it doesn't seem that farfetched. I  
desperately need a voice of reason, as mine is very off/on these days.  
  
I'm still determined to finish, though.  
  
Thanks to my reviewers for the encouragement. I wish you all foot-rubs and goodness for getting me this far in my story, as I'm notorious for my commitment issues. 90? I'm blushing here. (But I look better with a bit of color in my wan cheeks, so keep on keepin' on. Please?)  
  
Again, super special thanks to CX-chan for her help with canon stuff.  
  
I'm out. 


	8. 6B Don't Ever Change pt 2

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 6B: Don't Ever Change - Part 2  
  
Disclaimers: I own exclusive rights to my kindergarten finger paintings, and little else.  
  
Rating: For now, it's all still PG13. Eventually there will be some adult stuff. I will continue to cut a PG13 or R version for ff.net. NC17 material will be reserved for MediaMiner.org posts, and will be eventually posted at the address in my profile.  
  
Summary: Kagome has gone back where she belongs, but so has someone else. What exactly happened? Sesshou and Kagome don't know yet, but the past is about to collide with the present. Kag/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: Things lighten up; candy is involved. The miko from the South appears on the scene. Kagome has an epiphany. Sesshoumaru fears for the virtue of Kagome's bike. Kagome makes a strange discovery. (Edited Jul7/03)  
  
Soundtrack (available at my website): Pete Yorn - "On Your Side"  
  
*****  
  
---Sengoku Jidai---  
  
Shortly before sunset, Sesshoumaru and company returned to the well to wait for Kagome's return. They had left after seeing that the girl had, indeed, disappeared from the well's depths that morning.  
  
Sesshoumaru had had little desire to stay in an area where he might have another irritating encounter with his half-brother.  
  
Back at his home, they had found warmer clothing for Rin and ordered the fur cleaned. Jaken continued to grumble and moan about the indignity of it all. It had become rather tedious, and Sesshoumaru had considered shutting him up with threats and/or violence. However, Rin had found a way to keep Jaken otherwise occupied. At the moment, she was chasing the retainer around the clearing with mischief in her mind.  
  
Sesshoumaru had been sitting silently against a tree at the edge of the forest, keeping an eye on Rin's antics. Then, his ears pricked up slightly, and he rose to his feet at the unmistakable sound of movement inside the well, and Kagome's scent.  
  
He expected the girl to emerge, but was greeted instead with the strange, two wheeled machine that he'd seen her with in the past. Muffled curses drifted through the evening air as the contraption was awkwardly shoved over the well's wooden lip.  
  
After some scuffling noises, Kagome followed.  
  
Sesshoumaru was a little surprised at the sight of her. He could smell tears, but the fragile look that had haunted her eyes since he'd found her in the woods had vanished, and was replaced with firm resolve. It seemed that she had found a reserve of strength on the other side of the well. Determination wasn't the only thing she had brought with her; she carried a strange bag on her back, and had changed her clothes. Instead of the miniscule clothing she had worn before, she was attired in dark, form- fitting garments made of an unfamiliar textile that seemed to stretch when she moved.  
  
He felt a bit of curiosity about Kagome's origins. What kind of world existed in the future? It was uncommon in this age for a female to embark on such a hazardous journey, especially at a young age. He had been certain that Kagome's family would be reluctant to allow her to go, but it seemed that she had been supplied with provisions. Was she descended of a warrior line? He could think of no other explanation.  
  
Rin approached the girl as soon as she spotted her, abandoning a harried Jaken.  
  
"Hi, Rin," Kagome greeted cheerfully. She handed the girl a piece of candy. "I brought you a lollipop. It's candy from my time." Rin accepted the gift, eyes wide with curiosity.  
  
Silently, Sesshoumaru held his hand out, and Rin obediently handed the object over for inspection. He sniffed it suspiciously. Though he was certain that Kagome bore no ill will against the child, he had found in his lifetime that it never hurt to make sure. This - lollipop - didn't smell harmful, but it was unfamiliar and should be treated with caution. Sesshoumaru tasted it tentatively.  
  
Kagome watched in amusement as the Lord of the West licked the candy as though it might suddenly come to life and bite him. If someone had told her that she'd see Sesshoumaru try a lollipop in the near future, she'd have laughed.  
  
The humor of the sight faded when she thought about it some more. She looked again. Instead of seeing a usually decorous youkai uncertainly trying a piece of candy, she saw someone who couldn't accept a gift without suspecting a covert threat. She felt a twinge of pity at the realization.  
  
Sesshoumaru was rather enjoying the lollipop, though he would never admit to such a thing. Having approved it for consumption, he handed it to an ecstatic Rin, and then turned to see a look of sadness flicker over Kagome's face. He frowned at his flash of concern for the girl, but quickly suppressed it and summoned the dragon.  
  
It was time to leave this place.  
  
**********  
  
"What do you mean she was here? Why didn't you say something right away?! When the hell did this happen!?!"  
  
Ignoring the shouting, Kaede sat calmly by the fire, stirring her stew- kettle. She'd become inured to Inuyasha's verbal outbursts, and found it best to ignore them until he calmed down a bit.  
  
The disheartened group had arrived at the village about fifteen minutes earlier, tired from the search. Miroku had asked Kaede once again if she had heard any information about Kagome's whereabouts, but there had been little hope in his voice. After a week with no sign of her, it had seemed that they were unlikely to find her alive. It seemed like she had just disappeared.  
  
After she had vanished, it had become all too clear that she was the glue that kept them all together. Without Kagome's perpetual cheer, the atmosphere of the group had become grim. Miroku's lecherous behavior had been dampened significantly after Sango had learned of her brother's final death. Then, the worry that Kagome was injured and alone, or worse, had further curbed his compulsion to grope. It was hard to think about such things when everyone around you was in pain.  
  
Even Inuyasha was subdued these days, and Miroku suspected that he regretted what he'd said to Kagome, at least a little.  
  
Sango was very quiet, as was the little fox she seemed to hold in her arms constantly these days. He supposed that they comforted each other. Shippou hadn't been able to eat or sleep well since Kagome had disappeared.  
  
But now. . .  
  
"Kaede," Miroku asked, thinking he may have heard wrong. "Kagome was here? Today?"  
  
Kaede nodded, prompting a haggard Shippou to burst into a fit of cathartic tears. Sango patted his head comfortingly, feeling a wave of relief for her friend. Kirara purred at her side, nuzzling the kit comfortingly.  
  
"Where did she go?" the taijiya inquired, perplexed. "She didn't stay with you?"  
  
Kaede continued to look into the fire, and started to speak before Inuyasha interrupted her once again.  
  
"You let her leave? Rrghhhh! And where the hell was she this whole fucking time?!" he raged. He'd been beside himself with guilt. Now, relieved to hear that she was alive and well, he was more than a little pissed to discover that she'd been blithely prancing around while he'd been treated to a cavalcade of glares and mournful looks.  
  
Inuyasha began to harbor a faint suspicion. He sniffed the air, berating himself for not having noticed Kagome's recent presence sooner, masked though it was with the scent of the cook-fire. And what was that other smell? It was barely noticeable, but. . .  
  
The old woman's reply came in a calm voice. "Kagome is fine. She left because she had things to do, about which I will tell you in a moment. As for where she was. . ." she paused.  
  
All eyes turned to her.  
  
"She was staying with Sesshoumaru," Kaede continued. A brief moment of shocked silence followed, and then everyone covered their ears.  
  
Then, all the birds in the vicinity flew up from the trees to find quieter perches when the evening stillness was shattered by a hanyou's ear- splitting cry.  
  
"WHAAAAAAAAT!?!?!?"  
  
**********  
  
When Ah-Un alighted in the clearing, full darkness had fallen. Sesshoumaru landed lightly on the ground, and Kagome looked around in curiosity as she unloaded her bike and hefted her pack to her shoulders once more.  
  
The moonlight fell in silvery streaks, shedding its faint light on the marsh behind them and the forest before them. They would cross the rest of the way on foot. Sesshoumaru was not quite sure where the miko would be found.  
  
Rin and Jaken were not as quick to dismount. The little girl's movements were clumsy with fatigue, and her eyes seemed in constant danger of drifting shut.  
  
"Rin," Sesshoumaru ordered, noting her sleepiness, "you will bid farewell to Kagome here. Jaken, bring her back to the fortress. I will follow later."  
  
Jaken blinked. "Sesshoumaru-sama!" he croaked. "I will come with you!" He did not like the idea of leaving his master with the human wench. There was something strange about the way Sesshoumaru-sama watched the girl. Not, of course, that Jaken would ever presume to question his lord's judgment, but. . .  
  
"Are you suggesting that Rin fly back without your protection?" Sesshoumaru asked in a tone that made Jaken wince.  
  
Rin interrupted, much to the retainer's relief. "I'm not tired!" she exclaimed. Then, her tone turned wheedling. "I want to go with Kagome and Sesshoumaru-sama!" The little girl's statement was drastically undermined by the large yawn that immediately followed.  
  
Kagome bent down to the child, who grabbed her hand as if to detain her. "You've had a long day, Rin. You should go home and get some rest." Rin's expression became mutinous. Kagome sighed and continued, "I'll see you again, okay? This isn't really goodbye." The little girl's face brightened, but her grip on Kagome's hand remained as tight as ever.  
  
Sesshoumaru exhaled in irritation. "I will bring you to see Kagome in a few weeks, Rin. However, if you don't go home now, I will have to reconsider my decision."  
  
Kagome smiled. Sesshoumaru was being - well, he was being such a dad, she thought to herself. A little voice in her head announced, 'and the award for weirdest single-parent of the year goes to. . .'  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted when Rin released her arm and launched herself at the young woman for a fierce hug.  
  
"Bye, Kagome," she said reluctantly.  
  
"Bye, Rin. I'll miss you," Kagome replied. She continued in a conspiratorial whisper, "Maybe Jaken will be more fun if you are as nice to him as you are to me."  
  
The young woman bit back a grin when Rin got a speculative gleam in her eye. "I'll see you soon, okay?" Rin nodded.  
  
Jaken felt a glimmer of worry at the odd way the little girl turned her gaze towards him. Gods, he thought, what now? These human females were a menace, always colluding against him.  
  
"Goodbye, Rin," Sesshoumaru stated firmly.  
  
He and Kagome watched as the two small figures clambered back onto the dragon, and slowly disappeared into the night sky.  
  
Then, they were alone.  
  
**********  
  
Disgruntled, Kagome followed Sesshoumaru through the dense foliage, reflecting on the thoughts she'd had earlier that morning.  
  
She had been so sure she would be starting a new life.  
  
Now, she was being dragged at an ungodly pace through a dark forest by a bossy dog-demon who lacked even the barest of people-skills.  
  
Her new life was surprisingly similar to her old one, she grumped silently. Just switch the brother, replace the forest, and presto: a whole new annoying life. . .  
  
"Quiet," Sesshoumaru said in that maddeningly calm tone that she had grown to dislike intensely. "Do you wish to alert every beast in the area to our presence?"  
  
Kagome bristled. She was making as little noise as she could, but, to him, she probably sounded like a lumbering elephant. It didn't help that she had to pull her bike along with her. Or, she thought darkly, that he was going way too fast for her to keep up with while watching her step.  
  
Then, she heard a small springing sound. Kagome looked down at her feet to see that she had tripped some kind of cord. She shut her eyes, expecting to fall into a trap, or be hauled up into a net a là Robin Hood, but nothing happened. When she blinked them open once more, Sesshoumaru stood inches away from her, looking at her with accusing gold irises.  
  
Kagome drew herself up defensively. "I didn't see that," she retorted in response to his unspoken censure. "Not all of us are youkai with super senses, you know," she mumbled guiltily.  
  
"Any sense at all would be welcome at this point," he said in a chilly tone. "Do not think that your stupidity will go unpunished." Kagome gasped in affront. Stupidity? Her fists clenched at her sides.  
  
"Youkai live in these woods, and the miko is known for her many kills," he continued. "It is doubtful that she will see us as anything other than a threat at first glance, and I'm in no mood for a fight." His eyes seemed to burn her.  
  
Neither of them spotted the twin gleams that appeared in the bushes nearby, or the pleased grin that materialized beneath them at the mention of the miko's fearsome reputation.  
  
Kagome glared right back up at him. Sesshoumaru had a sinking feeling as his blood began to warm in response. Damn it, he thought. Not this again!  
  
Maybe sending Rin and Jaken home hadn't been a good idea after all.  
  
"Really?" she drawled insolently, spine stiffening. "Because it sure seems to me that you're always in the mood."  
  
She caught herself, and flushed slightly when he raised a questioning eyebrow.  
  
"For a fight," she stammered, before she regained her bearings.  
  
"You go out of your way to get a rise out of me." For a split second, Sesshoumaru looked taken aback, before his impassive mask returned. Kagome took advantage and stepped closer, continuing. The youkai lord had become occupied with trying not to stare at her mouth. When he was engulfed by the almost dizzying sensation of her closeness, he decided it was time to put a halt to this insanity.  
  
"Stop that, wench," Sesshoumaru bit out, trying to back away without her noticing.  
  
He sighed inwardly when he heard what had come out of his mouth. He had managed to say the precise thing that seemed to set her off.  
  
Kagome quivered. Wench? Oh boy, was he in for it now. She advanced, brows drawn into an angry frown.  
  
"You're always out to provoke me, and I'd like to know why. I haven't done anything to you!" She stopped for a beat. "Well, besides shooting arrows at you from time to time, and I think we can agree that it was purely in defense of either myself or my friends." Her arms crossed over her chest as she became more and more engaged with her subject matter. She nodded firmly.  
  
Indeed, he had almost killed her on numerous occasions, he acknowledged to himself. The awareness that only luck and resourcefulness had prevented her death at his hands sent an unfamiliar sensation through him. If he'd succeeded, he would never have met her, had any of these maddening arguments with her, or felt this strange immediacy that told him that he was fully alive. . .  
  
"Be silent, Kagome," he said quietly. She noticed that he sounded kind of funny, but forged on regardless.  
  
"You can't deny it!" Kagome went on. "You're the one who would show up with some kind of plan to kill one or more of us!" She scowled at the memory, but was distracted by the look on Sesshoumaru's face.  
  
She tilted her head slightly, and noticed that his eyes had gone that weird pale color again. She blinked, and suddenly she couldn't look away from him.  
  
Gah, she thought to herself, shivering anticipatorily as she remembered the last time she'd seen him like this. This was bad. She stared into those golden irises, and felt herself flush. This was very, very bad. Kagome felt like her limbs were turning to jelly.  
  
Bad, bad Kagome, she scolded. It wasn't working very well. Why did he have to be so gorgeous? She tried to cling to her indignation. It just wasn't fair! Bad thoughts! She thought for a moment of the way he'd kissed her, so hot and sweet. Her first real kiss, and she'd had no idea it could be like that. . .  
  
Bad thoughts!  
  
She steeled herself and inched backwards, allowing her bicycle with her attached pack to topple away from her. His gaze flicked down at the fallen bike before he looked back up into her eyes and stepped over it, followed her.  
  
"I'm normally a very even-tempered person, you know," she said breathlessly, trying to resume her train of thought with rather poor results. The grating sensation of tree bark at her back brought her to a stumbling halt. "Just ask anyone! I usually don't get angry this often," she faltered.  
  
His approach was inexorable. When he reached her, Sesshoumaru bent so they were nose to nose, and then they both went utterly still, seemingly transfixed. His hand moved to rest on her hip, and squeezed gently. Kagome shivered, glancing at where he touched her before blinking up at him in arrested confusion. She swallowed.  
  
His eyes drifted closed and he leaned down, inhaling deeply from where her neck met her shoulder, pressing closer until their bodies came into scalding contact.  
  
Sesshoumaru momentarily regretted the armor that separated them.  
  
Bad, bad, bad, Kagome repeated weakly as her resolve rapidly eroded. One hand settled on his shoulder, burying itself in the soft fur he wore, and the other alighted on the back of his neck. Her eyelids slowly lowered and she attempted unconsciously to move closer to him, tingling all over. He was so warm, and gods, he was starting to make the most amazing rumbly sound in his throat as he nuzzled her neck. . .  
  
Then, a clear, young voice caused them to leap violently away from one another. Unfortunately for them both, Sesshoumaru's hand remained firmly affixed to Kagome's hip, and the sudden jerk on her center of gravity caused Kagome to topple awkwardly into his arms. They both exhaled sharply. Kagome reddened like a tomato at being flung against him once more, and quickly righted herself.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt," a young girl's voice interjected with a glaring lack of apology, "but you two were bickering so loudly, and then you started to stumble all over each other." The voice continued from the darkness. "You are careless. I am embarrassed that I did not hear you from a mile away."  
  
Sesshoumaru shot a smug 'I told you so' look towards the young woman next to him. She was still flushed, he thought with a smirk of satisfaction.  
  
Then, his eyes searched the bushes, perplexed. He hadn't smelled anyone nearby, and cursed the fact that his distraction had caused his senses to fail him. He sniffed the air. Yes, there was a scent from that direction, but it was exceedingly faint. He might not have caught it under normal circumstances, if he wasn't downwind.  
  
He sniffed again. There was something strange about the scent, slight though it was.  
  
"This smells unusual," he said almost inaudibly, sending Kagome a sidelong glance. He felt renewed annoyance at their sudden interruption. Her lips were soft and parted, and the new clothing she wore did little to disguise the firm curves of her body. . .  
  
He quickly cut his thoughts off. "Be ready," he ordered tersely.  
  
Kagome's eyes narrowed. She pulled one of her two remaining arrows from her quiver, just in case.  
  
Then, what he'd said set the wheels of her mind turning. She'd forgotten about his keen sense of smell. A chill of anxiety passed over her.  
  
Her deodorant was supposed to work all day, and be strong enough for weightlifters but gentle enough for tiny girls with pink bows in their hair. However, today had been long and stressful.  
  
Was she smelly?  
  
Overcome with self-consciousness, she raised her bow, surreptitiously turned her head, and sniffed.  
  
Sesshoumaru eyed Kagome in disbelief. What on earth was wrong with her?  
  
Understanding slowly dawned. "You smell fine," he said, momentarily ignoring the presence in the bushes. "For a human wench," he added as an afterthought.  
  
Kagome sent him an annoyed look that made him feel a bit tingly.  
  
He scowled.  
  
She glowered back at him.  
  
The voice piped up again, saturated with incredulity and a hint of frustration. "Stop! Unless you two want to kill me by irritating me to death, I think I can assume that you do not intend to fight. What exactly are a human and a youkai doing wandering through these woods?" A pair of eyes twinkled slyly in the dark, making it clear that she had some idea of what they had been up to.  
  
The source of the voice stepped out into the moonlight. Kagome's embarrassment faded, and she looked at her in shock. She was tiny, and stood at least a head shorter than Kagome, with plain features and eyes that seemed alive with inquisitiveness. The girl couldn't have been more than sixteen. She wore her hair in a short bob, and was armed to the teeth, her clothes dusty and obviously well-worn.  
  
Then, Kagome's senses twitched, and they seemed to be telling her. . .  
  
"Are you the miko?" Kagome asked curiously. She hadn't expected her to be so young. The girl looked back at her in assessment.  
  
Just then, all three of them simultaneously tensed. Sesshoumaru turned towards the approaching threat. Kagome could feel that familiar sensation that could only mean one thing: 'shards ahoy!'  
  
The small girl facing them groaned, before turning as well. "Shit," she muttered. "It's always after dinner, when I feel bloated and want a cup of tea-"  
  
She was cut off by a snarl. A massive, crazed mantis youkai charged through the trees towards the group. It yelled a generic battle-cry of "Grrraaaghghgh! I will feast on the marrow of your bones, miko! I will crush your flesh into pulp and roll around in your bloody remains! Grraaaghhhghh!"  
  
Sesshoumaru looked like he was one step away from falling asleep. He raised a hand, extended a lash of energy, and neatly cut through the monster's armor-like exoskeleton with one flashing stroke. Still, in two disgustingly gory pieces, it clambered clumsily towards them.  
  
"It has a Shikon shard," Kagome stated, sending a glowing purifying arrow towards the monster's lower half. Its scrabbling legs burned away into dust as the arrow melted through its flesh.  
  
The young girl drew two short swords, seemed to ignite with pale green fire, and then launched herself towards the youkai. With economical, workmanlike movements, she ripped the creature's torso into shreds with speed and ferocity. Nothing but a steaming pile of remains was left behind.  
  
Kagome's eyes grew round. Then, she shook herself, walked over to where the monster's head used to be, and secreted the shard in the pocket of her vest.  
  
The young girl dusted herself off before she hopped to her feet. She resheathed her kodachi and made an uncomfortable face, patting her stomach with a dismayed noise. Then, she sent Sesshoumaru and Kagome a probing look.  
  
"I'm Aya. And yes, I'm a miko." She paused, adding the qualification, "Well, sort of."  
  
Then, she scowled. "So, if you are not going to attack, then who the hell are you and why are you here?"  
  
Sesshoumaru answered. "This is Kagome. She wishes to train with you."  
  
Aya waited for him to introduce himself, but he obviously had no intention of doing so, though she could detect no threat.  
  
She examined him narrowly. An inuyoukai, she thought to herself, with stripe markings, and a crescent on his forehead.  
  
Something told Aya that she was missing something important, but nothing was springing to mind as she wracked her brain.  
  
He was powerful, but did not intend to do her any harm. The girl with him seemed pleasant enough.  
  
"Hm," Aya replied decisively, hoping she would not regret this. "Follow me. I need tea."  
  
**********  
  
A little while later, a modest but comfortable-looking hut came into sight. Sesshoumaru noted that it was on the outskirts of the forest, a fair distance away from the nearest village. If his information was correct, the miko probably chose to live far enough to avoid damage to the village from the youkai that hunted her, but near enough for her to arrive quickly if the villagers needed her help.  
  
Kagome stiffened and came to a halt. "Shards," she explained at Sesshoumaru's questioning look. She turned to Aya. "You have some Shikon shards."  
  
Aya nodded, looking at Kagome strangely. "About a week ago, youkai started popping up all over the place, attacking the village, and trying to kill me as usual. The difference was that they were stronger, and a lot harder to kill. I found some shards of crystal in the corpses of the fallen." She shrugged. "You can have them. They seem to attract trouble, and I have no shortage of it."  
  
Kagome nodded. "Yeah," she agreed gloomily. "The shards do tend to make a person into a walking youkai target. I'll be collecting them from now on, so my life expectancy has been greatly reduced."  
  
Sesshoumaru sent a covert look towards Kagome and frowned slightly. His reaction did not escape Aya's notice. It was the first time she'd seen him with a facial expression.  
  
She addressed him next. "So what is your interest in all of this?" she asked curiously. She had assumed that they were a couple after what she'd seen in the forest, but after that, they had kept her between them at all times. They avoided each other's eyes, but she could see them shoot intent glances towards one when the other wasn't looking.  
  
Sesshoumaru remained silent.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome leaned her bike against the outside of the hut before the three of them entered. Aya removed the majority of her weapons with practiced movements, and laid them aside as she introduced her family.  
  
"Hayashi Kazuo," she said affectionately, as a middle-aged man with graying hair and a gentle face nodded from his seat on the ground. Must be her father, Kagome thought. "And Hayashi Seiji." A smiling young man of about nineteen waved from where he had just entered the room. "This is Kagome, and this is. . ." Aya's voice trailed off.  
  
"Sesshoumaru," Kagome supplied when he didn't. She shot him a pointed look. How rude of him. Sesshoumaru stared back at her.  
  
As the men of her family smiled at the newcomers in welcome, Aya hid her sudden comprehension. An inuyoukai, with those markings, named Sesshoumaru. She briefly regretted allowing these two into her home.  
  
What exactly was the merciless Lord of the West doing here?  
  
Why was he helping this human girl? It didn't mesh with anything she had heard about him. The girl argued with him, and made him angry. In fact, he had been acting quite juvenile.  
  
From what she knew, this youkai was reputedly as cold as one could be without being petrified, and couldn't care less about humans. However, it had definitely looked like he and Kagome would have gotten up to trouble had she not interrupted them earlier.  
  
Aya could feel a headache coming on.  
  
"Seiji," she said in the voice of a general. "Some of your noise traps were set off by these two, so you might want to look at them in the morning."  
  
Sesshoumaru was slightly affronted at being implicated in the crime, and glanced at the boy. Then, he couldn't help but notice the admiring way the whelp was watching Kagome.  
  
Perhaps, he thought, she should go elsewhere to train; somewhere where she would not be staying in the home of someone who was so obviously a lecher. He sent a murderous look in the boy's direction, but it went unnoticed by all but the miko.  
  
She would have to warn Seiji to refrain from even looking at Kagome for the time being, Aya thought wryly. Sesshoumaru's features showed very clearly that he was infuriated, which did not bode well for him.  
  
The boy in question nodded towards Aya. "I'll go and check them now." She grinned and stood on her toes to ruffle his hair affectionately before he exited the hut. Moments later, they all heard an excited shout.  
  
"What is this machine?" Seiji could be heard exclaiming. Kagome rose to her feet and followed him out the door, to see him examining her bike with all the excitement one might expect of someone who had won the lottery.  
  
"It's a bicycle," she replied. "I'll show you how it works." She got up onto the seat and rode it around in a small circle. "See?"  
  
"What artisan made this?" he inquired with wide gray eyes after she got off it again. "The work is so fine, and I do not recognize the materials. It is a fascinating mechanism." He peered at the chain, and then prodded the seat. "Where did you acquire it?"  
  
Inside the hut, Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes in irritation. Obviously, the human brat was trying to gain Kagome's affections by questioning her about her strange carriage. He would have to warn her about that.  
  
He frowned.  
  
Really, there was no good reason for him to put up with this nonsense. He was the ruler of the Western Lands, after all.  
  
Sesshoumaru rose to his feet, and walked out the door. Once he had stalked over to the talking pair, he grabbed Kagome around the waist, and dragged her back inside where he could keep an eye on her.  
  
"I'm okay!" she called to the rapidly receding young man in a way she hoped was reassuring. "Feel free to try it out; I'll see you when you get back!"  
  
Seiji stared, dumbfounded, at her disappearing form. "Kagome?"  
  
Sesshoumaru had seated himself once more, disregarding the stunned look he was receiving from Aya.  
  
Kagome glared at the youkai who had seated her beside him and held her arm in a firm grip. He looked at her warningly when she tried to move away. Aya continued to stare at the two of them in shock, while Kazuo remained completely unruffled.  
  
"I can't believe you are being so rude! What exactly is your problem?" Kagome hissed at Sesshoumaru, whose hand still anchored her to his side.  
  
Kazuo, steady as a rock, seemed to remember something. He stood and retired to another room, telling Aya that he'd forgotten about the tea. She immediately followed. Gods, she thought to herself. Clearly, those two were crazed. Perhaps it had been an error of judgment to invite them into her home, but it was too late now, she thought with a beleaguered sigh.  
  
Sesshoumaru just glared at Kagome in response to her mutinous expression. If she lacked the discernment to see that the boy was a degenerate on her own, then he certainly was not going to tell her.  
  
Kagome was fuming. What on earth was wrong with him?  
  
"What is the matter with talking to Seiji? He seems perfectly nice, and he's friendly."  
  
Nice? Friendly? These were supposed to be good qualities? The youkai stiffened with anger.  
  
The woman beside him continued, oblivious to his incipient fulmination.  
  
"I like him. He seems like a good guy." Sesshoumaru's glower only intensified as Kagome continued to speak. "And hasn't it occurred to you that I'm asking these people for a massive favor? It wouldn't kill you to be polite. Aya doesn't have to help me, you know. If she doesn't, I'll be stuck, and Naraku will probably kill me without even putting in a tiny bit of effort, and mmmmnrph-"  
  
The long speech that Kagome had planned on the value of good manners was greatly impeded by the fact that Sesshoumaru had suddenly hauled her into his lap and kissed her. The firm, hungry pressure of his mouth, and the way his hands were caressing her sides caused her brain to take a brief vacation and her body to take over the reins. He parted her lips with his, and slowly stroked his tongue into her mouth as her hands fisted in his hair. When she started to reciprocate, he pulled away and replaced her on the floor next to him with a thud.  
  
Kagome looked up at him in confusion, only to see a smug glint in his amber eyes. He looked like he'd just proved some kind of point.  
  
Her eyes widened. Why, of all the childish. . .  
  
"Oh gods," she whispered in shock, "you're jealous!"  
  
"I have no idea what you are speaking of," he replied in a tone that would be better suited to ordering office supplies over the phone. She felt a surge of irritation. "Why would I be jealous of a weak human pup?" he continued coolly.  
  
Kagome's brow crinkled. She'd expected him to say something more along the lines of 'jealous over a useless wench like you, unthinkable blah blah.'  
  
But he hadn't.  
  
"You are! You're jealous!" Kagome was stunned, and suddenly very angry. When had everything become so bizarre? She was actually pissed that he'd kissed her to prove some point, Neanderthal-style, instead of just kissing her because he wanted to.  
  
She chose not to examine her reaction any further. That way, she was convinced, lay madness.  
  
Sesshoumaru scowled. "As I have already said, you are mistaken."  
  
Her brown eyes sparked at him, and his hands itched to drag her back into his lap for more point-proving.  
  
Kagome's mouth fell open as his eyes lightened and he leaned towards her, despite the death-glare she was currently sending his way. She came to another epiphany.  
  
"Gods! I can't believe you!" she continued in a low, angry voice. "You actually get turned on when I argue with you? You are completely and utterly insane!"  
  
He gave in to the urge and pulled her against him again, tempted beyond bearing by her scent. "You do not seem to object," he pointed out as he settled her arms around his neck and tugged her close, aching to feel her body against his. He wished he didn't wear armor. It seemed as if anything even halfway pointed broke it anyway, and he was constantly replacing it. Right now, it was an almost unbearable obstruction.  
  
She looked off to the side, guiltily. He was right, she didn't object, because this was. . . she didn't know what it was, but it didn't seem like she could stop herself.  
  
He ran the pads of his fingers slowly over the pale skin of her face, studying her. She looked troubled for a moment, and then her eyes met his with equal desire. Her eyelids drifted down to lie like dark feathers on her cheek as she turned and pressed a kiss in his palm. Then, Kagome seemed to lose patience and leaned in for a kiss. Her tongue flicked hesitantly over his lips before he sucked it into the heat of his mouth with a low groan.  
  
Kagome's hand pressed against the side of his neck, and she found that she loved the feel of his pulse against her fingers.  
  
Sneaking under the hem of her knit shirt, his thumbs made slow circles on the silky skin of her stomach. An inarticulate sound escaped him when she ran her hands through his hair, and rubbed that spot behind his ear that made him melt. He was gratified to feel her shivering against him.  
  
The bulky armor between them annoyed Kagome. She wanted to feel the warmth of his chest against her. Her lips pulled away from his and she made a quiet sound of irritation, shifting her weight on his thighs.  
  
He quietly gasped as she pressed her lips to the side of his throat and lightly caressed the skin there with the tip of her tongue.  
  
Damned armor, he thought again as she rubbed up against him, teeth raking against the base of his neck. Gods, he thought dimly through a red haze, she was right. He truly had gone insane, but the smell of her. . .  
  
Aya, noticing the abrupt lull in the argument, made a big production of stomping loudly before entering the room. When she and Kazuo finally came in, after some noisy and unnecessary throat-clearing, their two guests were sitting six feet away from one another and looking with fascination at the walls of the hut.  
  
Kagome appeared a little dazed.  
  
The reputedly cruel and ruthless Lord of the Western Lands looked considerably less intimidating with part of his hair sticking up.  
  
Kazuo smiled faintly as he sat down, holding a tray. "Tea, anyone?"  
  
"I know I could use some," Aya piped up, gamely ignoring the sexual tension that permeated the room.  
  
Sesshoumaru watched as a pink-cheeked Kagome gratefully accepted one of the cups and drained it in one gulp, completely disregarding its temperature.  
  
It scalded her all the way down.  
  
**********  
  
After a few cups of tea and a few awkward silences, the atmosphere in the room returned to something resembling normalcy.  
  
"I am still confused about why the Lord of the West would just decide to show up, unannounced, with Kagome in tow. Why did you not send word in advance?" Aya asked. "Would it not have been easier to ask before coming?"  
  
Sesshoumaru exhaled. It had occurred to him to do so, but he'd been in such a rush to get rid of Kagome that it had seemed better to just bring her here and end her disruptive influence over his life. He had obviously been right to, in light of more recent events. "Time was of the essence," he replied expressionlessly.  
  
Nervous, Kagome bit her lip.  
  
"I know it's a lot to ask with no advance notice," she added tentatively, "but I need all the help I can get at this point. Getting the shards from the youkai that are no doubt partying it up with them will be hard enough. There is also this really horrible guy named Naraku who is tracking the shards down as we speak, and probably has a big grudge against me," she continued.  
  
Aya bent her head thoughtfully. "Naraku?" she asked. "From what I have heard, he is not exactly well-liked."  
  
"Tell me about it," Kagome grumbled. "He's got half of Japan out to kill him for various things he's done to them. Unfortunately for us, the bastard is smart, manipulative, and almost impossible to pin down."  
  
Sesshoumaru entered the conversation again, addressing Aya. "I would think that it would be in your best interests to train another miko to fight. While she is here, she could help you. The girl has power; I have seen it myself."  
  
Kagome was surprised that Sesshoumaru was saying something nice about her, and grinned at him in thanks. He looked away hastily.  
  
Kazuo and Aya shared a speculative look. What exactly was up with these two? The girl and the youkai couldn't seem to decide whether to avoid each other entirely, or stare at one another in a way that made others want to vacate the room.  
  
Sesshoumaru was torn. On one hand, he was almost twitching to get out of this house. On the other hand, the boy was really getting on his nerves, and he didn't really want to leave Kagome in this place with him. Seiji had returned from resetting his traps, and was currently watching Kagome with a moony look on his face. Disgusting, the youkai thought huffily.  
  
His sinister thoughts were interrupted by Aya's voice. "What kind of training have you had, Kagome?" the young woman asked in a professional tone.  
  
Kagome looked a little sheepish. "Pretty much none," she answered honestly.  
  
"But he says you have powers?" the miko persisted.  
  
Kazuo refilled everyone's teacups, and continued with his reading. He looked like he had become accustomed to pretty much anything, which was likely, since he lived with Aya. Doubtless, she attracted trouble like a magnet.  
  
"Well, yeah," Kagome continued. "When I shoot arrows from my bow, they end up purifying youkai, like you saw. Also, when I first arrived in this era, I met a centipede youkai, and made a bunch of its arms fall off just by touching it. I had no idea what was happening, but I guess that was the miko abilities."  
  
Aya looked at Kagome in confusion. When she arrived in this era? What on earth was the girl talking about?  
  
Kagome blinked, before comprehension dawned.  
  
"Oh, I'm not from this time. I'm from the future. I was sent back here, and the Shikon no Tama was in my body before it was taken out and shattered."  
  
There was a moment of silence. Even Kazuo looked up from his book with an expression of surprise in his gray eyes. Seiji looked perplexed, and then Kagome could see the questions filling his head as he put two and two together and realized that her bicycle was from the future. He'd just die when he found out about cars, she thought wryly.  
  
"I see," Aya said slowly. She had wondered where Kagome had gotten such strange clothing, and felt a pang of regret that she would not be able to find such apparel. It looked very appropriate for her lifestyle.  
  
She nodded slightly. "You sound like myself when I was younger. Well, aside from your origins, of course. I was just trained as a fighter, you see. I had no miko training. My father was raised in a taijiya village." Both Sesshoumaru and Kagome shot Kazuo a dubious look. He seemed to radiate a Buddha-like peace, as he perused the scroll. It was difficult to picture him committing violence of any kind. "I had no idea that I had any miko powers. For years, I studied fighting techniques, until one day I was battling a spider youkai and losing badly. The next thing I knew, I was glowing, and bits of spider youkai were raining around me."  
  
Aya shuddered before continuing. "It is not the cleanest style of fighting. Be prepared for many close encounters with innards. Luckily, you can create purifying arrows, which will come in very handy from a distance. However, you may have noticed that most youkai will try to grab you, or sink their teeth into you, especially if you carry those shards. My type of fighting will be better suited for that kind of situation."  
  
Kagome was beside herself with curiosity. "So what exactly do you do? What kind of training did you have?"  
  
"I had to learn to control my power on my own, and it took quite some time. I believe that, since I was not trained to control it from a very young age, it is stronger but correspondingly difficult to harness. I tried to learn from a miko, but it was useless. Basically, I channel the energy to make myself physically stronger and faster. I also focus it around whatever weapons I use to increase their effectiveness. It is a combination of physical and spiritual effort."  
  
Sesshoumaru listened with disguised interest. Apparently, it was effective, if she was seen as a threat by the youkai in the area.  
  
Kagome nodded in understanding. As far as she could tell, Kikyou had relied mostly on purifying arrows to protect the village and the Shikon no Tama. It had worked well because she could hide in strategic positions and pick the youkai off as they approached the shrine where it was safeguarded. However, Kagome would be carrying shards around with her, which meant the youkai would head straight for her.  
  
She'd have to learn Aya's way.  
  
Kagome felt more cheerful. It sounded like the miko had already accepted the idea of training her.  
  
"I will help, but it will be hard work," Aya stated in confirmation. She looked Kagome over critically. "We will begin with your physical endurance and strength. Be ready for a long day tomorrow."  
  
Kagome grinned.  
  
The whelp grinned as well, Sesshoumaru noted with distaste.  
  
"We will prepare a room for you," Aya said as she rose to her feet and walked into the back of the house. Seiji and Kazuo followed. She stuck her head back into the room and sternly said, "You should probably get to bed early. We will be up at dawn," before disappearing once more.  
  
**********  
  
A half-moon shone down on the two of them as they stood side by side in the cool night air outside the hut.  
  
Kagome shivered slightly from the breeze. The awkward silence persisted. She wasn't quite sure what to say. What did people say to someone they alternately fought and made out with? There should be instruction books for this, she thought in her embarrassment. She'd buy one.  
  
"Thanks," she began stiltedly, staring straight ahead into the darkness. "Thanks for letting me stay with you, and for bringing me here. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for your help."  
  
She saw Sesshoumaru nod slightly out of the corner of her eye. He said nothing.  
  
At that moment, he was ambivalent about leaving. He had been so sure he would be glad to see the last of her, but life back at the fortress seemed to loom before him in endless monotony.  
  
At least Rin was there to alleviate the tedium. . .  
  
Rin. The thought of the little girl brought him to a standstill. He'd told her that he would take her to see Kagome. He hid his relief.  
  
"Rin will come to visit you in one month's time," he said quietly.  
  
He seemed to be saying something else altogether.  
  
Kagome blinked. Rin. She remembered the bargain he had struck with the little girl, and smiled faintly. Rin would come in a month, and he'd have to bring her here.  
  
She would see him again.  
  
"I'll kind of miss. . . Rin," she stammered, before cringing inwardly at the lameness of it all.  
  
Sesshoumaru remained silent for a minute. "I think that Rin will miss your presence as well," he said. She shot him a sidelong look. He smirked faintly as he continued, "though she finds you argumentative, and generally insufferable."  
  
Kagome bridled. Her chin rose and she put her hands on her hips as she met his eyes. "Is that so?" she asked icily.  
  
"Definitely, wench."  
  
"Rin isn't always the easiest to get along with, either," she retorted speedily. "She's arrogant, rude, and incredibly provoking. She'd test anyone's patience. Perhaps you should do something about that."  
  
Sesshoumaru shrugged noncommittally. "She does as she pleases."  
  
"Anyway," Kagome said quietly before she paused. She reached into her pocket, took something out, and placed it in his hand before she could think better of it. His fingers closed over it. "This is for. . . Rin," she concluded.  
  
There was a crinkling sound, and Sesshoumaru opened his palm to find a lollipop. He looked at her strangely.  
  
"I could tell that. . . Rin liked it, earlier today, and I thought that maybe she should have one of her own." Kagome glanced sheepishly at the ground as the seconds ticked by.  
  
The youkai was stunned, and didn't know what to say. He couldn't remember the last time anyone besides his ward had given him a gift without expecting a favor in return.  
  
Kagome fidgeted as the silence went on unabated. She couldn't take the discomfiture any longer.  
  
"Goodbye," she blurted in a rush.  
  
She turned back to the house and started walking.  
  
She had barely taken two steps before she felt Sesshoumaru's hand on her arm. Apprehensively, she turned to face him.  
  
"I will return in one month," he said quietly before he pulled her into his embrace. He pressed a chaste kiss on her lips, and then sent her back towards the hut with a gentle push.  
  
When Kagome looked over her shoulder, Sesshoumaru was gone.  
  
**********  
  
After settling in for the night, Kagome found that sleep eluded her.  
  
She lay on the futon that Aya and Kazuo had graciously brought in for her, and blinked into the darkness, wide awake.  
  
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't explain what was going on with her and Sesshoumaru. It was such a strange situation.  
  
Before, with Inuyasha, Kagome had had fantasies. She'd been utterly infatuated, and wondered what being with him physically would be like. For some reason, she'd entertained the juvenile notion that one day, after romantically declaring themselves, they would get carried away on a frothy pink cloud of hearts and flowers. Thoughts of what came after had been pleasant and arousing, though vague due to her naiveté.  
  
She'd been attracted to Inuyasha, but not in this hungry, intense way that seemed to overrule her reason again and again.  
  
Kagome rolled to her side with a sigh.  
  
When it came to Sesshoumaru, her feelings seemed so volatile. It seemed that they were constantly arguing with, or trying to ignore the other. There was no logical progression from that to kissing, but it seemed to happen with amazing frequency. She wasn't sure how she felt towards him, and couldn't figure out how he felt towards her. However, when she found herself pressed against him, with his touch and the taste of his mouth flooding her senses, all of that seemed to melt away.  
  
It was like an ache, she thought to herself, and it didn't seem like it was going to go away. Each time she touched him, it became stronger.  
  
She thought back to their goodbyes, unconsciously bringing her fingers to her lips.  
  
Then she flung the covers back.  
  
She wasn't going to be able to sleep for a while, so she thought she might as well go outside for a breath of fresh air.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome had been sitting outside the door of the hut looking up at the stars, when she heard a noise from within the hut. She hoped fervently that she hadn't woken anyone up. When she looked up, Seiji was coming outside.  
  
"Hi," she greeted him. "Sorry if I woke you."  
  
He shrugged and sat down next to her. "I wasn't sleeping." He smiled, looking abashed. "I wanted to look at your bicycle again."  
  
Kagome grinned. "Go ahead," she offered, gesturing towards it. He stooped to take a closer look at the tires and spokes.  
  
"Are there many such machines in your time?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, lots more. That is actually one of the simpler ones. It doesn't have an engine." Seiji looked confused. "There are other machines that move without human power. By burning fuel, the engine makes the wheels turn."  
  
Seiji looked at the bike in wonder, absently spinning one of the wheels. "It's ingenious," he said softly. "I have made many noise traps in the woods, to give us advance warning of intruders and their location. Compared to this, though, they are nothing."  
  
Kagome shrugged. "It's completely different, isn't it? The traps serve their purpose. They worked on me, and pissed Sesshoumaru off " she added dryly. "Plus," she continued, "they help to protect your family. A bicycle can't do that."  
  
Unnoticed by Kagome, the young man's face fell slightly at the mention of Sesshoumaru's name. "I suppose it is something."  
  
He looked up into the night sky. "You should go to bed," he advised Kagome with a grin. "The slave-driver will want to start as early as possible, and she would be irritated if you were half-asleep."  
  
"I wish my brother worried as much about my wishes as you do about Aya's," Kagome replied cheerfully as she got up to go back inside. "But I guess she's the baby and only girl of the household, so she must get her way with you and your dad."  
  
She smiled at Seiji, only to see that he was blinking at her in confusion.  
  
"Baby of the household?" His brow furrowed, and then Kagome saw surprise slowly spread across his face.  
  
"You really did not do any research about my family before coming here, did you?" he asked in an admonishing tone.  
  
Kagome shook her head.  
  
He laughed quietly, before continuing with a sparkle in his gray eyes.  
  
"Aya is my mother."  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note:  
  
What a mammoth chapter in two parts. Don't worry, more Kagome and Sesshou in the present will be coming up in the next chapter. I just have a lot to get through in the feudal era.  
  
Thank you reviewers! I couldn't have done it without you. Your reviews are great motivational tools. You have no idea.  
  
In response to someone's comment about Sesshoumaru's furry thing: in my opinion, it's not his tail. When he transforms, it remains on his shoulder and is distinct from his dog tail.  
  
I now have a notify list for this story, so if you want to be emailed in case of updates, hit the webpage link in my profile.  
  
My updates might not be as frequent now, since:  
  
-the going is getting very tough for me. Sometimes, I can't stand this  
story, let alone the thought of writing more of it.  
  
-the chapters seem to want to challenge War and Peace to a duel. Tolstoy  
will, of course, prevail, but still. . .  
  
-my plot is running away from me and seeking shelter in opium-dens. The  
idea of pink bunnies hopping in and killing Naraku with hugs and  
cuteness? Let's just say, sometimes it doesn't seem that farfetched.  
  
I'm still determined to finish, though.  
  
Again, super special thanks to CX-chan for her help with canon stuff. 


	9. 7 Reminding

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 7: Reminding  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own the series.  
  
Rating: For now, it's all still PG13. Eventually there will be some adult stuff. I will continue to cut a PG13 or R version for ff.net. NC17 material will be reserved for MediaMiner.org posts, and will be eventually posted at the address in my profile.  
  
Summary: Kagome's back in the present, but so is someone else. She and Sesshou are about to meet, and the past and present are set to collide. What exactly happened in Sengoku Jidai? They don't know yet either. 2 stories in 1. Kag/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: Shady folk appear to menace our protagonists. The Higurashis tell Kagome a tale of wonder and amazement. Keiko sallies forth once more. An unexpected reunion follows a daring rescue. Everyone has brain damage. (Edited Jul7/03)  
  
Soundtrack (available at my website):  
  
1st half: Rainer Maria - "Lost, Dropped, Cancelled" 2nd half: Ash - "Girl from Mars"  
  
*****  
  
---Present Day---  
  
After the smack-down at the construction site, the walk back to Higurashi shrine was uneventful. Kagome could still feel adrenaline and some other unfamiliar current coursing through her.  
  
She'd phoned the police from a booth, and said she'd seen a brawl there. The gods only knew what those lowlifes would have to say about it.  
  
The weirdest thing about the incident was that it hadn't seemed that weird at all. She wasn't shocked. Even Sesshou's incredible speed and strength had seemed kind of. . . well, familiar.  
  
When Kagome thought about it objectively, she realized that she really should have been freaking out by now. Instead, she felt hungry, and was dreading her homework assignments as usual.  
  
Stopping at a corner, she extended her arm, furrowed her brow, and tried to think glowy thoughts.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Kagome shrugged, kicked a pebble, and resumed her walk, rubbing her arms against the sudden chill.  
  
In the dark, something watched her pass with famished eyes. The gloom beyond the reach of the streetlamps seemed to shift and mold into a flickering human form.  
  
A voice rasped, cracked and raw from an age of disuse. "Finally. . ."  
  
The lamp-light flickered, and the creature dissolved like smoke. It melted back into pools of blackness, disappearing into the cracks on the sidewalk unnoticed.  
  
On the other side of the street, a different, dark-clothed figure watched as Kagome made her way home. He leaned against a fence, letting the night hide his stillness from her.  
  
So she is here, he thought to himself, glancing at Kagome.  
  
His hand moved to his side, and firmly grasped the hilt of a sword as he narrowed his eyes.  
  
Now, he thought to himself, I just have to find him.  
  
**********  
  
"Mama?" Kagome called as she closed her front door. "I'm home!"  
  
Souta peeked up at Kagome from his seat on the couch. "Mama and Grandpa went out to do some shopping before the stores closed," he informed her.  
  
Kagome smiled, collapsed on the couch next to him. She reached her hand out and rumpled his hair in that way he always pretended to hate, but didn't actually mind that much. Souta examined her, noting the dark circles that had taken residence under her eyes for the past few months.  
  
Inwardly, Kagome sighed at his scrutiny.  
  
It was kind of weird; lately, her little brother was so protective and concerned for her. Just the other day, he had advised her to go outside for some sun and fresh air. He was always asking if she'd eaten, and getting her snacks when she was having late study nights.  
  
Wasn't she supposed to be the one doing that stuff for him?  
  
"Hey, Souta," she asked lightly. "I was wondering. Do you know if I've ever taken martial arts lessons? I know it's kind of a weird question, because it seems like I would remember that, but-"  
  
At that moment, the front door swung open. Kagome looked up, and missed the way Souta's eyes had widened into perfect circles at her query.  
  
Recovering himself, he jumped up from his seat and ran towards the door to help bring the groceries in. After carrying a couple of bags into the kitchen, he tugged his mother and grandfather aside.  
  
"She asked me if she took any martial arts lessons!" he whispered excitedly.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi's expression turned hopeful, and Grandpa visibly perked up.  
  
"Did she say anything else?" he asked in a low voice, his grip tightening on a bag of vegetables.  
  
"Well, no," Souta answered. "But you came in just then, so there wasn't any time."  
  
Kagome's mother nodded, exchanged a look with Grandpa, and continued to put the groceries away.  
  
**********  
  
An hour later, Kagome stared down at her homework, awash in misery.  
  
Why couldn't she have gotten math-related superpowers, she asked herself in frustration. Her calculations were way off. It looked like she was in for another long night.  
  
She dropped her pencil and looked longingly over at her bed. She'd just lie down for a minute, she told herself unconvincingly. Then she would get right back up and kick that data's ass.  
  
Kagome lay down, snuggling contentedly into the softness of her pillow. Her happy sigh was cut short by a knock on the door.  
  
"Come in," she mumbled, eyes still closed. She heard the door open.  
  
"Kagome, we need to talk to you about something."  
  
The girl in question opened her eyes to see her mother and grandfather standing in her room with serious expressions.  
  
She sat up, worried. This didn't look good.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked in confusion. "Is everything okay?"  
  
Mrs. Higurashi sat down on the mattress next to Kagome, while Grandpa pulled her abandoned desk chair to the bedside.  
  
"Nothing's wrong," Mrs. Higurashi said with her usual beatific smile. "Did you ask Souta if he knew whether you took any martial arts classes?"  
  
Kagome nodded. "Yeah, well you see. . ." her voice trailed off. After a moment's consideration, she decided to spill. Kagome clasped her hands in her lap.  
  
"You know that construction site? Well, tonight when I was walking home, a bunch of guys attacked me there."  
  
Grandpa's eyes widened, and her mother looked her over carefully. There wasn't a mark on her daughter, she realized with relief. At least Kagome hadn't been injured.  
  
"So what happened?" Grandpa asked worriedly.  
  
Kagome looked down at her lap. "I kind of. . . well, actually, I beat them all up," she said uncertainly.  
  
Grandpa nodded. "Good for you, Kagome! I'm glad my granddaughter can defend herself."  
  
Mrs. Higurashi sent him an exasperated look. "Grandpa," she said quietly, "I think you're missing the point here." She turned to her daughter. "I'm glad you're not hurt, but I'm sure that's not the biggest question you have right now."  
  
Kagome made a sound of agreement. "It was really weird, because I don't remember learning to fight like that. There were maybe twenty of them, and I didn't even break a sweat." She paused, and her fingers relaced themselves nervously. "That's not the only thing, either." She looked up at her mother and grandfather. "I was glowing, too."  
  
Souta appeared at the door, where he'd been listening. "You were glowing?" he interjected suddenly. Everyone's head shot up.  
  
"Sorry," he grumbled. He entered the room and sat on the floor next to Kagome's bed, before baldly asking, "Sis, do you remember anything before a couple of months ago? Like maybe doing some traveling?" Souta emphasized the last word meaningfully.  
  
Kagome's brow furrowed as she thought back. She'd taken a trip somewhere? Now that she was actively trying, she couldn't really say that she remembered anything very clearly from the past four years. It was all kind of foggy, as though she couldn't quite access it.  
  
"I. . . I don't know. . ." she said in a small voice. She massaged her temples. "Well, I have really clear memories of Junior High. Gods, being a freshman was horrible. I wish I didn't remember that," she muttered. "After that, it's a bit muddy." She looked up at her family, who were all leaning forward, wearing expressions of rapt attention.  
  
"I noticed this before, when Yuka asked me about what I'd been doing before I was accepted into college." Kagome paused. "There are lots of things I can't really remember clearly. I don't remember being sick all the time, but she told me about all the school I missed when I was either bedridden or in the hospital. I wasn't sure what to think."  
  
Mrs. Higurashi blinked, glancing in Grandpa's direction. He looked innocently up at the ceiling.  
  
Kagome watched the byplay without comprehension for a moment before continuing. "Then, Yuka told me about that brain tumor I had a couple of years ago, and how I had surgery to get it taken out." Grandpa Higurashi looked abashed for a moment. "I thought my memory might be a bit disrupted because of that. I didn't want to worry you all by bringing it up; I thought it would just come back. It seemed to be working; information about school and my friends just seemed to come to me, and since it wasn't really affecting me in any negative way, I figured-"  
  
Souta's mouth had fallen open in shock as she spoke. He interrupted her. "Brain tumor?" he asked slowly. He sounded stupefied, and was staring at Grandpa in astonishment. "You told Yuka she had a brain tumor removed?"  
  
Grandpa, in addition to turning his eyes up to the ceiling, had begun whistling in the hopes that a jaunty tune would deflect the accusing stares he was receiving from Souta and Mrs. Higurashi.  
  
When his masterful strategy failed, he looked annoyed. "It was all for her own good!" he defended. "I was watching out for her, so don't look at me like that!"  
  
Kagome just stared at her family in confusion, having completely lost her tenuous hold on the flow of discussion. Souta was shaking his head at Grandpa reproachfully, and Mrs. Higurashi was scowling.  
  
Her mother never scowled.  
  
"Mama, what's happening?" Kagome asked.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi sighed. "You never had a brain tumor, and you never were sick in school. You just. . . didn't attend very often."  
  
Kagome blinked, puzzled. She'd been a delinquent?  
  
"We told your school that you were ill," Mrs. Higurashi said, raising an eyebrow at the old man. "Your grandfather made up some interesting excuses for you." Then, her voice lowered. "I knew we never should have bought that medical dictionary," she sighed, shaking her head.  
  
Kagome flopped onto her back. Mmmm, pillow, she thought to herself. It was so much less confusing than her family.  
  
She didn't know what to make of these developments, so she focused on formulating coherent questions. "Why can't I remember anything, if I never had a brain tumor? What exactly was I doing when I wasn't in school? How did I know how to fight like that?" she asked. She paused for a moment, waiting for her mind to catch up to her mouth. "Oh, and one more thing. What can you tell me about the glowing?"  
  
Souta grinned at Kagome from his seat on the carpet. "Well, Sis, you have these wicked powers and you can totally kick-"  
  
Mrs. Higurashi interrupted her son's helpful comment.  
  
"You do have some unusual abilities, Kagome. A few years ago, you started taking. . . trips, to a different time. Your abilities enabled you to help with a problem there. That's why you were absent so much."  
  
Kagome shot a doubting glance at her grandfather and brother, expecting to see expressions of concern over Mama's mental health. Instead, she noted in shock that they were nodding in agreement.  
  
The world had obviously gone mad.  
  
She listened with bulging eyes as her mother continued. To all appearances, the woman was blissfully unaware that everything she said was completely nonsensical.  
  
"After you graduated from high school - which was quite the achievement, considering your frequent trips to the feudal era, dear - " Mrs. Higurashi beamed at that side note, "something happened." Her expression darkened. "You gave up your life in the modern world for a while, because you had to start your mission over again. We saw you a couple of times after that, but then. . ."  
  
Kagome's mother trailed off and looked down at the floor with moist eyes, unable to continue.  
  
Grandpa Higurashi took over. "Granddaughter, you didn't visit us again for almost a year," he said in a grave voice. "We thought something had happened to you."  
  
Souta was watching Kagome with that gimlet eye again.  
  
A big part of her still thought this story was completely impossible, and that they were sharing some kind of collective delusion. However, her mother was on the verge of tears, her brother was acting like a guard dog slash babysitter, and her grandfather had reached over to grab her hand as if it were a lifeline.  
  
Even if their story sounded insane, these were honest emotions.  
  
Her family had been worried sick about her. They had truly thought that she might be dead.  
  
Kagome closed her eyes. She couldn't even remember what happened to affect them this way. Part of her life was gone. Admittedly, it sounded like a crazy and scary part of her life, but it was gone nonetheless.  
  
There had to be some kernel of reality in their explanation, she acknowledged. After all, she had been glowing. That wasn't particularly sane either, but it was the truth.  
  
"Then," she began slowly, "why can't I remember any of this?" she asked. "I mean, for some reason, I have vague recollections of gossiping with my friends, the periodic table - well, some of it - and standing Hojo up repeatedly, but nothing connected to time travel. Why?"  
  
Suddenly, she noticed that Souta couldn't seem to meet her eyes. His hands folded tightly in his lap. "When you came back, I was the one who found you," he said in a quiet voice. "I. . . I think you had an accident. . ."  
  
His voice cracked slightly, and he looked extremely upset. Suddenly, Kagome was glad he couldn't describe the circumstances any more. She wasn't sure how much she could deal with tonight. Between the fight at the construction site and the memory issues, the needle on her freak-o-meter was bobbing near the red zone. She was an easy-going person, but everyone had a point where they went from happy-go-lucky to foaming at the mouth.  
  
Kagome thought she might be close to hers.  
  
Noticing how overwhelmed Kagome looked, Mrs. Higurashi motioned for Souta to stop. He did, obviously relieved.  
  
"We thought maybe you had an accident that affected your memory. You couldn't tell us what had happened. We decided it might be best to let it come back to you gradually," her mother explained.  
  
Grandpa and Souta nodded their agreement.  
  
"Don't worry yourself about it, Kagome." The old man patted her shoulder reassuringly. "There is no rush."  
  
He, Souta, and Mrs. Higurashi got up to let Kagome think everything over.  
  
"You'd better go to bed soon," Souta added before he exited her room. "You look like hell."  
  
"Thanks," she mumbled blankly.  
  
**********  
  
After leaving Kagome's bedroom, the three of them gathered in the kitchen.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi looked worried. "How do you think she'll take it?" she asked.  
  
Grandpa, after a reflective pause, replied, "I'm sure she'll be all right." He smiled. "Kagome is stronger than she looks, as we all know. She'll remember eventually."  
  
"I hope so," she said quietly. Then, she quirked a brow up at the old man. "A brain tumor?" she asked good-naturedly.  
  
He grumbled. "Well, you two weren't coming up with anything good. You really should have taken a look through that dictionary-"  
  
The smallest of the group remained silent. He had stopped listening, absorbed in his own worries.  
  
Ever since Kagome had returned, he had gotten into the habit of waking in the middle of the night and looking in on her, just to make sure she was finally safe at home. Sometimes, she seemed to cry in her sleep. Other nights, she would toss and turn so much that he wondered if she had any rest at all.  
  
Souta thought back to the day a couple of months ago when he'd found her.  
  
He'd arrived home from school and heard strange sounds. Cautiously following them, he'd been overjoyed to see her lying on the concrete in front of the well-house. However, once his initial elation had faded, dread had filled his veins with ice.  
  
Kagome had been curled into a ball, sounding utterly destroyed. She had been sobbing and whimpering like a wounded animal.  
  
When he'd knelt on the pavement next to her, he'd discovered that parts of her clothing had been burned away, and that she was covered in blood. Horrified at the thought that she had come back only to die on the cold cement outside their home, he'd run to the house screaming for his mother and grandfather.  
  
To have her back only to lose her all over again would have been impossible to bear.  
  
While his elders had checked her over, Souta had helplessly held the small first-aid kit they kept. His ears heard only the rattling of the items in the box as it trembled in his hands. Mama had cut Kagome's clothes away with scissors, searching for injuries with unsteady fingers. They had been beside themselves with relief when they found only minor wounds. Grandpa had knelt, heedless of the hard ground, holding her as though afraid she would suddenly disappear again.  
  
The next day, Kagome hadn't remembered anything about coming back. In fact, she seemed to think that she had been at home with them all that time. They had quickly recovered from their shock, sure that whatever trauma she'd undergone would have to be dealt with slowly. Oblivious, Kagome had gone about the business of her late application to college for upcoming semester. She had assumed that she had taken a couple of years off after high school graduation to deal with her so-called health problems. Any oblique references to what she'd been doing had been met with blank looks, or ignored completely.  
  
Souta wondered if she would even want to remember. He wished that he could forget what it had been like to wait for months, hoping to see her come back safely. He wished he could forget the silences in the evenings, when they had all thought the same thing, but refused to acknowledge it.  
  
Walking to the cupboard, Souta grabbed a box of cookies. Then, he put some on a plate, poured a glass of juice, and walked back to Kagome's room. As he'd expected, she was toiling away at her homework. He shook his head, putting the plate and glass next to the sheaves of paper littering her desk.  
  
"Don't stay up too late," he scolded quietly.  
  
Kagome looked up and smiled at him tiredly. "Thanks, Souta." She seemed to search his face for a moment. Then, she dropped her pencil and folded him into a hug.  
  
His requisite "Hey!" of protest was halfhearted, at best.  
  
"Thanks for taking care of me," she whispered, tightening her arms so much that he heard his ribs creak.  
  
He rolled his eyes, smiled, and gave her a squeeze back. Then, he mumbled, "Whatever. You're welcome. Goodnight," and left her to her assignment.  
  
**********  
  
At that moment, Sesshou was in his bedroom, examining himself in the mirror. The markings that had come out earlier were gone.  
  
He closed his eyes, and concentrated on the soft sounds of night traffic, the buzz of his refrigerator, and the tick of his clock in the next room. His senses seemed to expand. The faint smells of his house fore-grounded themselves, forming a vivid landscape in a new dimension. There was the dark scent of old wood and polish from the furniture, the smell of the cherry tree in his yard, and traces of aftershave, soap and shampoo from the bathroom.  
  
His own scent marked the house everywhere: pine, fresh water, and musk together.  
  
When he opened his eyes, he found that they had turned gold. The stripes on his face had also appeared, arching over his cheeks toward his temples and the line of his jaw.  
  
He flexed his hands, feeling that surge of strength once more, and pulled the sleeves of his sweater up to reveal stripes coiling themselves around his wrists. He pulled one of his pant legs up. As he'd suspected, similar magenta marks wound about his ankles and calves.  
  
Remembering how he'd fought in his dreams, he concentrated on his right hand. A faint green glow developed. Sesshou touched his finger lightly to the wall, and his eyes widened as a small hole appeared. He snatched his hand back as though it had been burned.  
  
The last thing he needed was more household repair projects, he sighed to himself.  
  
Deciding to try something else, he moved his hand so quickly through the air that it blurred, trying to reproduce sensations that he had only ever felt while asleep. Sharp claws appeared at the tips of his fingers, and then retracted when he relaxed. He concentrated again, and slowly, his fingers were surrounded by a halo of yellow light. With a flick of his wrist, he extended a bright lash of energy. It crackled as it cut through the air, and neatly bisected his table-lamp. He pulled it back before he could rip his house to shreds, and exhaled with relief.  
  
He supposed there were other things he could try to do, like fly, or turn into an enormous white dog, but there was no place large or isolated enough for him to transform unnoticed. He didn't think he could take the shock of it anyway. As it was, he was having a hard time believing that his dreams had bled over into his waking life.  
  
He was also quite positive that his immense canine form wouldn't be greeted with joy and welcome by city authorities. He'd probably be shot in the butt with hundreds of tranquilizer darts, he thought sardonically. He wasn't sure whether he, or the animal control agency, would be more stunned.  
  
Watching himself intently in the mirror once more, he concentrated on relaxing his senses. Eventually, sounds and smells faded back to the normal levels he was used to, and the markings faded. His eyes returned to their usual dark amber colour.  
  
It seemed like he could control this, after all.  
  
Relieved, Sesshou undressed, set his alarm, and got into bed.  
  
That night, he dreamed of a woman's dark eyes, and a little girl's face smiling out at him from a mass of white fur.  
  
**********  
  
The next day, Kagome sat in the lecture hall, absently drumming the tip of her pencil against her notebook. The page was covered in doodles.  
  
This class was so incredibly boring that she couldn't stand it.  
  
Luckily, she had something to look forward to. Yuka was coming to meet her afterwards. She glanced quickly at her watch, and was glad to see that there were only ten minutes to go.  
  
The young woman bent her pencil to her notebook again, quickly taking down everything she heard without processing any of it.  
  
She felt good today. She had slept more deeply than she had since she'd returned, despite her sudden load of strange information. Kagome had decided to put it from her mind for now, and let things come to her naturally.  
  
Her family also seemed more relaxed after their talk last night, and the atmosphere at breakfast had been cheerful. Souta, after giving her the daily examination she'd come to expect, had grinned and told her that her 'massive eye bags' had gone away. She'd swatted him on the head, happy to have her bratty little brother back. He hadn't been bugging her as much in the past couple of months, and she'd missed it.  
  
Kagome smiled. Yes, things were looking up. She was definitely in the mood for some gossip and coffee with Yuka. After a two-year absence, she was lucky that she still had her as a friend. She'd stuck by Kagome, when others had given up on her. Her grandpa told her that she'd phoned periodically to ask how Kagome was, sending little gifts, even after being told repeatedly that she couldn't visit.  
  
She peeked at her watch once more, and saw that class would be over in two minutes.  
  
Kagome stuffed her books into her bag, and waited for the lecture to end.  
  
**********  
  
In the room across the hall, Sesshou was absorbed in the lecture. He started when his thoughts were interrupted by a very familiar, though distant, voice.  
  
Shit, he thought to himself. He hadn't seen Keiko when he'd arrived. He had assumed that she cut class like many other students, who seemed to see college as their final chance to slack off before beginning a life of wage- slavery.  
  
He braced himself for another quick escape. Then, he started thinking better of the idea.  
  
Really, he thought, he should just deal with her head on. If she wouldn't leave him alone after he had fled her presence yesterday, he would just have to abandon the polite approach in favor of more direct methods. After all, he reasoned, he refused to avoid her for the rest of the semester.  
  
It was just undignified.  
  
In accordance with his decision, he rose from his seat and made his way to the doors at a normal pace once lecture had ended. He reached the hallway without incident.  
  
She'd obviously given up, he thought with satisfaction.  
  
He was dead wrong.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome found Yuka waiting for her outside the door, and smiled.  
  
After the two girls had exchanged greetings, Yuka immediately leaned in and started to speak in a low whisper. "So you know that guy I was telling you about the other day on the phone?"  
  
Kagome nodded. Yuka had been filling her in on yet another tale of romantic woe. It seemed like the girl had been experiencing a lot of that lately. Kagome shook her head at the memory. "What was he thinking?" she asked. "I mean, 'I kind of have a girlfriend, but I don't really like her.' Who the hell says that to someone before asking them out?"  
  
Yuka nodded, scandalized. "I know! I know! Plus, he's completely repulsive, and dumb as a rock - though maybe that's self-evident. Anyway, guess what he said this time?"  
  
Kagome raised her eyebrows. "Oh no. He hasn't gotten the message?"  
  
The other girl shook her head in frustration. "No! Today he told me that he has a son with this girlfriend that he doesn't really like, and that he's just living with them until he finds a better deal. Then, he asked me if I wanted to rent a movie with him and watch it at my place."  
  
"Ewww," Kagome commented, wrinkling her nose with distaste.  
  
"Of course, I told him to give up on me while he still had all extremities intact. I feel so sorry for the little tyke. I mean, really. With a dad like that? How awful. I hope his mom has enough sense to ditch the bastard."  
  
Kagome nodded, amused by Yuka's outspoken and virulent dislike of the guy.  
  
What an idiot, she thought, to be constantly throwing himself at someone who couldn't stand him.  
  
Who would do a thing like that?  
  
**********  
  
Sesshou felt a wave of irritation pass over him as someone latched onto his arm. After having pried himself free of her talons, he turned to her and had to blink.  
  
Keiko had gone platinum blonde. No wonder he hadn't spotted her in the lecture theatre.  
  
He wondered if she'd used bleach, or if the pigment in her hair had simply fled from her in terror.  
  
Keiko saw the glint of humor in Sesshou's eye, and misinterpreted it as a sign that he was glad to see her. "How are you doing, sweetie?" she cooed.  
  
Sesshou decided to cut to the chase. He looked down his nose at her, pinning her with a vivisecting stare. "Look, Keiko. I said it yesterday, and I'll say it again." He paused to turn the frost up to full-strength.  
  
"I. Am. Not. Interested." Each word fell like a stone.  
  
Unperturbed, Keiko batted her plastic eyelashes at him seductively. She was actually raising a breeze with those things, he realized with disgusted fascination.  
  
"Why? Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked coyly, continuing to move closer to him. Remembering the fiasco of the day before, he stepped out of reach before she could try to repeat the cleavage maneuver.  
  
"No," he said flatly. "But there is no way in hell that I'd ever-"  
  
Keiko cut him off with a titter. "Well then, I still have a chance with you, I'd say." She leaned close and winked conspiratorially, eyelashes producing another gust of air. "I tend to grow on a person."  
  
Sesshou thought back to the time a wart had 'grown on' his father after a trip to a public swimming pool. On that occasion, he recalled, the doctor had had to burn it off with acid. He looked at Keiko speculatively. Maybe that doctor had had the right idea.  
  
"Trust me," he said, his tone caustic. "You would never grow on me. I can't stand you. Just being near you makes my skin crawl and my eardrums bleed."  
  
Still, she persisted. A sinking sensation engulfed Sesshou as he realized that he had greatly underestimated his opponent. She was so relentless that he wondered if she was insensate.  
  
"I'm an acquired taste," Keiko twittered in response.  
  
More like acquired tastelessness, he thought bitterly. Perhaps her previous targets had become hysterically blind and deaf. He couldn't think of any other reason why more exposure to Keiko would end in anything other than a headline-grabbing murder/suicide.  
  
He sent another volley. "I'm sure you are," he said curtly, in a voice that made the Antarctic breeze seem balmy. "I'd sell you to cannibals if I didn't think they'd die of food poisoning."  
  
His eyes widened in dismay when she let out an ear-splitting laugh. "Ooooooh!" she squealed. "You're so FUNNY! I LIKE you!"  
  
Briefly, he entertained the thought of extending his claws and cutting her head off, but with his luck, her head would probably continue to hit on him. He briefly entertained the mental image of her empty, hair-sprayed cranium bouncing after his absconding form, propelled solely by the flapping of huge, bat-like eyelashes.  
  
Reluctantly abandoning the idea of murdering her, he thought he might try to convince her that he wasn't into girls. However, that would probably lead to equally dogged attempts to take him shopping, he thought in disgust.  
  
There was only one thing for it.  
  
"Actually, when I said I was unattached," Sesshou began in a serious voice, "I wasn't being accurate. The truth is, I'm deeply, deeply in love with someone."  
  
Keiko gazed up at him hopefully, eyes dewy with romantic daydreams as she leaned closer.  
  
"Someone ELSE!" he shouted incredulously, his composure almost completely lost. Of all the infuriating. . . Gods, was her head made of bricks?  
  
He winced as she grabbed his arm, and violently wrenched it free of her before she had the opportunity to rub her chest against him. "I'm not buying it," she cooed. "I'm sure if you tried, you could get any girl you wanted."  
  
Sesshou had gone pale, and was now grasping at straws and trying to back away. "I said I didn't have a girlfriend, right? Well, what I meant to say was that I have a fiancée. I'm engaged. I'm deeply, deeply in love with someone ELSE, we're engaged, and we plan to marry and have hundreds of fat babies."  
  
Keiko looked up at him with suspicion.  
  
Damn it, Sesshou thought desperately. Why couldn't she be as dumb as she looked?  
  
**********  
  
Meanwhile, Yuka had finished her tale of horror and was asking about Kagome's luck with the opposite sex. It could only be better than her own. "So, you're telling me you haven't met anyone in your classes?"  
  
Yuka was a little surprised when Kagome nodded. "Nope," Kagome replied.  
  
Was the girl completely blind, Yuka wondered. A few guys who passed them in the hallway had looked at Kagome appreciatively, or smiled at her.  
  
Then, Kagome spotted a familiar shock of white hair out of the corner of her eye. Sesshou was rapidly backing away from a blonde girl - a very loud girl dressed in fuchsia, teal, red, and orange.  
  
Kagome's eyes rounded at the unprovoked attack on all things aesthetic.  
  
It could only be Keiko. She appeared to be going in for the kill, having weakened her prey with ceaseless giggling. Kagome still felt bad about leaving Sesshou with the harpy yesterday. She squared her shoulders, getting ready to enter the fray. After all, they'd had a bonding experience. People with weird powers had to stick together.  
  
He had to be going through hell right now, she thought. His usually calm mask was slipping. She couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but it sounded like he was talking about fat babies.  
  
Kagome shook her head in confusion. Just what had he gotten himself into?  
  
"Yuka, just wait here for a second okay?" she asked. Her friend nodded, watching as Kagome walked over to Sesshou and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, staring at her as though she were a life preserver and he was about to be swept away on a multicoloured tsunami.  
  
"Hi, I hope you haven't been waiting for me long!" Kagome greeted in a friendly tone, offering him an excuse to escape.  
  
She was completely unprepared for his response.  
  
He seized her hand. "I don't mind waiting. Of course, honey, you know I want to help with the invitations and china patterns," he said in a smooth voice, regaining his composure. Then, Sesshou yanked her towards him. He wrapped his arm around her waist, as much for realism's sake as it was to prevent her from running.  
  
"Keiko," he continued, "I'd like you to meet Kagome, my fiancée."  
  
His supposed betrothed was utterly dumbfounded. Her brain tried to interpret what he'd said in a way that wasn't completely insane, and failed. Evidently, the guy had completely lost his marbles. It must have been the colour combination, Kagome thought in commiseration. Not even a clown would have worn those shades together, and everyone knew that clowns were the most evil beings in the universe.  
  
When she appeared to have regained her ability to speak, Sesshou clamped the hand that wasn't anchoring her against him over her mouth and shot her a look that said, very clearly, 'you owe me.'  
  
Sesshou had noticed that his senses seemed to be sharpening in the warmth of Kagome's nearness. She smelled amazing, and felt even better, he noticed. Her scent seemed to be growing stronger. He leaned in imperceptibly and inhaled, before murmuring, "Just go along with it."  
  
For a second, Kagome was tempted. She had to admit that the arm around the waist thing was pretty nice.  
  
Then, she rolled her eyes. Did he actually think this would work, she wondered incredulously. Perhaps she was out of touch, but she was quite sure that men didn't keep their fiancées gagged at all times. It looked like it was going to be up to her to get him out of this one.  
  
Her dark eyes widened as she saw the faintest beginnings of his markings appear on his skin.  
  
When he saw her warning look, he forcibly dulled his senses again, and was a little disappointed at the loss.  
  
Yuka viewed the strange tableau with interest. Kagome and the white-haired guy looked awfully friendly, albeit in a weird way. She could have sworn that she'd just seen some kind of silent communication. Who exactly was he, and how well did Kagome know him?  
  
The young woman in question was getting very annoyed. Sesshou's hand was still firmly clamped over her mouth. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at him.  
  
He found it strangely stimulating, until she actually bit his palm. Surprised, he withdrew his hand with an accusing look.  
  
Keiko had gone silent, much to the delight of all eared beings in the vicinity. She was mystified. The girl in front of her looked nothing like a blushing bride-to-be, and a lot like an enraged hostage. Besides that, Keiko thought disapprovingly, her outfit was just so blah. Keiko was sure that this obvious man of taste would choose a girl with some visual panache.  
  
Kagome recovered herself. Inspired by recent events, she came up with a plan to help Sesshou and get back at him simultaneously. She bestowed a pitying smile on him, and turned to Keiko.  
  
"I hope my friend here hasn't been bothering you," she said sweetly. "He's a little confused. Ever since the brain damage, he just hasn't been the same."  
  
Sesshou went rigid, and stared at Kagome in bewilderment. His mouth opened and closed uselessly.  
  
Kagome immediately took advantage of his shell-shocked expression. "See?" she said to Keiko as she pressed her hand to his forehead, an exaggerated look of concern shaping her features. "He's obviously having one of his spells."  
  
Turning to Sesshou, she comfortingly rubbed his arm. His mouth had fallen open again. "Don't worry, sweetie," Kagome said in a soothing tone, disregarding her hapless patient's murderous glare. "Just calm down. Everything will be better once we get you home and into your special hat."  
  
Yuka was leaning against the wall of the hallway, doing her level best not to snort with laughter. She really should meet Kagome at school more often, she thought. This was immensely entertaining.  
  
Confusion settled on Keiko's face, and looked very much at home there. "He's brain-damaged?" she asked uncertainly. The newly-blonde girl scrunched her face in thought. Then, she seemed to come to a decision.  
  
Kagome suppressed a triumphant smirk, but was then stunned when the Keiko started to advance all over again.  
  
Well, the girl giggled to herself, flipping her hair over her shoulder. With those looks, he didn't need a working brain, did he?  
  
Kagome looked horrified for a moment before inspiration struck her once more.  
  
"Yeah, he's been like this since the accident. Then, his car was impounded and he got his driver's license revoked," Kagome continued, shaking her head sadly and giving Sesshou another pat on the arm.  
  
Keiko's mouth formed into a moue of dismay. No license or car? A girl had to have standards, she thought to herself.  
  
She looked up at Sesshou. "I hope we can be friends," she said with a fake smile, before walking off at a fast clip. He stared after her in astonishment.  
  
Sesshou was inundated with relief. Thanks to Kagome, he was rid of that monster for good.  
  
Then, he remembered what she had said. His eyes narrowed. Kagome beamed, clearly proud of herself.  
  
"Brain damage?" he asked, offended. "One of my 'spells'?" He glowered at her, noticing that it had no effect on Kagome whatsoever. Perhaps he should work on his glare, he thought with annoyance. It seemed that, lately, its success rate had been greatly reduced.  
  
Then, he couldn't prevent his mouth from twitching up slightly. "My 'special hat'?" he asked, trying not to laugh.  
  
"Hey," she replied, "like you were doing any better." she gave him a playful swat. "Come on. No sane person would believe that a guy would want to pick china patterns," she chided with a grin. "You were digging your own grave."  
  
"I am forever in your debt," he replied dryly, "though my pride may never recover."  
  
Kagome grinned. "Well, that's what you get for the captive fiancée routine," she replied. "Don't you think that was a bit extreme?"  
  
"You have no idea what the circumstances were," he replied, before smirking. "You thought what I did was extreme? Maybe I should go and put on my special brain damage hat. I feel an attack coming on."  
  
At least she had the grace to flush slightly with embarrassment, he saw with appreciation.  
  
Yuka sauntered up, breathless with curiosity and long-suppressed mirth. She shot her friend an inquiring look.  
  
Then, Kagome remembered her manners. "Oh, Sesshou, this is my friend Yuka." The two nodded towards each other.  
  
"Well," Yuka said decisively. "That sideshow made me hungry. Let's go eat."  
  
Yuka hadn't seen her friend this animated since Kagome had recovered from her own traumatic brain injury. She smiled to herself, glad to see that her best bud was on her way to mental health.  
  
And, Yuka thought with a gleam in her eye, there was definitely something up with these two. Neither of them seemed to be aware that his hand still rested lightly on the small of Kagome's back.  
  
**********  
  
A little while later, the three of them were sitting in a booth at a nearby restaurant. Yuka and Kagome were seated on one side, while Sesshou took the other. They were talking amiably.  
  
More accurately, Kagome and Yuka were exclaiming in shock as Sesshou filled them in on his most recent altercation with Keiko.  
  
Yuka's mouth hung open for a moment. "She said she'd grow on you, after you told her to go away?"  
  
Sesshou took a sip of his coffee and nodded.  
  
Kagome laughed. "Like mold, right?" she commented.  
  
"More like a wart," Sesshou observed. "Except warts don't sound like car alarms, as far as I know."  
  
Kagome smiled and had another spoonful of ice cream.  
  
"Then what did you say?" Yuka asked curiously.  
  
Sesshou mumbled something grumpily under his breath. When the two girls looked at him inquiringly, he spoke louder. "I told her I'd sell her to cannibals if I wasn't sure they'd die."  
  
Yuka chuckled.  
  
"Mmrmph," Kagome contributed, trying to keep her ice cream in her mouth. Swallowing, she made an airy gesture with her spoon. "Poor cannibals," she said, shaking her head. "I can't believe that girl. You'd think she would take a hint. The fake betrothal makes more sense now. You really were running out of options," she remarked sympathetically.  
  
Sesshou shrugged. "It didn't work too well, did it? At least I don't have to worry about her anymore." He looked at Kagome as she turned her attention back to her ice cream. Yesterday, he'd thought she was very pretty, though she had obviously been tired. Today, she looked radiant. Her eyes were bright, and her skin was luminous in the restaurant's dim light.  
  
Yuka watched the two of them with interest. Sesshou was reserved, but when he spoke to Kagome, he became more expressive. Kagome, in turn, seemed more vivacious now than she had been in the last while. Ever since her friend's sudden recovery, Yuka had wondered if she was doing as well as she said. She'd always seemed so tired. At the moment, however, Yuka was finding it difficult to believe her friend had ever been ill.  
  
Kagome looked up to see Sesshou staring intently at her with those unusual amber eyes, and glanced back down at her bowl, flustered.  
  
One of Yuka's eyebrows raised slightly. Then, her phone rang. She grabbed her purse and got up. "Excuse me a second," she said with a smile, stepping outside to escape the noisiness of the restaurant.  
  
"So," Sesshou began when Yuka was out of earshot. "Have you figured out what happened last night? Did you try it again?"  
  
She smiled and met his eyes. "No, I haven't really had a chance. Too much homework," Kagome explained. "It would be nice to be able to control it. Maybe tonight I'll give it a go. How about you?" she asked curiously.  
  
"I think I've got a handle on it." He glanced briefly around the restaurant, making sure no one was watching. Then, Kagome's mouth fell open as his eyes lightened to blazing gold, and the sweeping stripes darkened vividly on his cheeks. They quickly faded again.  
  
"Wow," she said, slightly breathless. Then, her eyes sparkled with humour. "Showoff," she jibed good-naturedly.  
  
Sesshou shrugged. "The markings seem to go with the strength and speed."  
  
Kagome's brow furrowed. "Kind of like my glowing, I guess," she murmured ruminatively.  
  
They were interrupted by an approaching male voice. "Sesshou! How long have you been sitting here?"  
  
Sesshou looked up to see a familiar face. "Oh, hi," he greeted, as his friend slid into the seat next to him. "Kagome, I'd like you to meet-"  
  
The dark haired young man who joined them cut Sesshou's introductions short.  
  
"Higurashi!" Hojo exclaimed, obviously pleased. "I haven't seen you in ages!"  
  
Kagome's eyes had gone wide. "Oh, hi," she stammered, caught off-guard. "How are you?" She smiled at him, and then looked down at the table guiltily when she remembered the numerous occasions she'd stood him up. He really was a nice guy, and hadn't deserved that.  
  
"I'm doing well. You look nice. You look really good," Hojo continued.  
  
Sesshou watched with surprise as his neighbour from childhood reddened slightly, and rapidly degenerated into babbling idiocy. He'd never seen him in such a state before.  
  
"How is your health?" Hojo asked.  
  
Kagome looked uncomfortable, not really knowing what to say.  
  
Luckily, Hojo barreled on. "I was really worried about you. No one saw you for ages! Your grandfather told me a few months ago that you were still in the hospital. I hope you're okay. Hey! Did you get that herbal tea I brought by your house?" Hojo asked, seemingly unable to stop talking.  
  
Sesshou's eyes widened slightly in comprehension. He looked at Kagome, who was now nervously shredding her paper napkin. So, he thought. She was the girl that Hojo had been crazy about all through high school. He remembered being annoyed at the way Hojo would constantly talk about her, but now it didn't seem so bizarre. Kagome was definitely an interesting girl.  
  
"Um, the medicinal tea?" Kagome asked. Hojo nodded eagerly. "Yeah, my granddad gave it to me. Thanks." She offered him a smile, but didn't appear too enthused.  
  
Remaining silent, Sesshou rolled his eyes. Once, years ago, Hojo had asked him his advice on how to get a girl to notice him. At the time, Sesshou hadn't had any idea what to suggest. He'd told him to get a small gift for her, since Hojo had mentioned that she was sick.  
  
The next thing he knew, Hojo had started to drag him all over the city on a weekly basis, in search of increasingly strange homeopathic remedies. When Sesshou had commented on how he thought it might be overkill, Hojo had told him about how Kagome was chronically ill. He diligently plied her with cures, hoping that when she was well, he could take her out.  
  
"Did you try it?" Hojo persisted. "The guy at the store said it boosts the immune system."  
  
Kagome had serious health problems? Sesshou looked at her skeptically. She looked perfectly fine to him. She was strong, too. After all, last night she had taken a bunch of thugs down without even blinking.  
  
Glancing back at the young man next to him, Sesshou could practically see little pink hearts floating around Hojo's head. When his eyes returned to Kagome, he saw that she was biting her lip, having completely annihilated her unfortunate napkin.  
  
Was she uncomfortable because she was interested in Hojo? Sesshou frowned slightly, finding that he really disliked that idea. He felt kind of. . . well, possessive of her, though he had no reason to be. At that realization, his frown deepened.  
  
Meanwhile, an oblivious Hojo stared down at the table, his cheeks turning a deeper pink. "Say, Kagome, I was w-wondering. . . um, that is, if you're in better health these days, and if you're not too busy. . . you know, with school, and that kind of thing. . . and, um, if you feel up to it sometime, do you think that we could maybe-"  
  
The bell at the door of the restaurant jingled and interrupted Hojo's verbal meandering, much to Kagome and Sesshou's relief. Yuka rushed back to the table, and placed some money by her empty cup.  
  
"Hey, Kagome, I have to go. That was my mother. She wants me to pick something up for her on the way home, and it's a bit out of the way, so I should probably leave now if I want to get there before-" Yuka halted, noticing the new person at the table. "Oh, hi Hojo," she greeted, surprised to see him.  
  
"Hi," Hojo replied with a smile, before turning back to Kagome with big puppy-dog eyes. Yuka shook her head at the familiarity of it all. Sesshou remained expressionless.  
  
Kagome stood up suddenly. "I'll go with you and keep you company," she told Yuka, pulling her wallet out and leaving a few bills on the table. "I haven't seen your mom in a while." Hojo's face fell.  
  
Her friend shrugged. "Sure, that would be cool."  
  
Kagome smiled brightly at the two young men. "It was good to see you two. I'm sure I'll run into you around campus," she said, waving as she went to the exit.  
  
Yuka followed Kagome with a puzzled expression on her face.  
  
**********  
  
Once outside and around the corner, Yuka grabbed Kagome's arm.  
  
"Spill," she commanded in a tone that brooked no argument.  
  
Kagome looked up. "Huh?"  
  
Yuka placed her hands on her hips. "How long have you known that Sesshou guy? Are you holding out on me or something?"  
  
Kagome looked at Yuka strangely. "What are you talking about? I just ran into him a couple of times yesterday." She started to fidget, Yuka noticed. "He seems uh, nice though." More fidgeting ensued.  
  
"Hm." Yuka sounded unconvinced. Nice? She didn't think that was really the word.  
  
"Let's walk." Yuka started down the sidewalk, and Kagome followed silently. "So, you didn't happen to notice anything about him, right?" No response was forthcoming. "Like the fact that he's incredibly hot, and that he seems interested in you?" she continued in a nonchalant tone of voice.  
  
Kagome halted, doing a great imitation of a stunned fish.  
  
"Keep walking. I actually do have an errand to run, you know," Yuka continued, "though I have no idea why you wanted to come along to get my mom's orthopedic insoles from the doctor's office."  
  
Kagome's feet started moving again. "He is really, really, hot, isn't he?" she mumbled with a blush. "At the restaurant, I was afraid I'd start drooling or something." She buried her face in her hands.  
  
Yuka laughed. "I was wondering if you noticed, or if I had to buy you a special hat."  
  
**********  
  
"She's really something, isn't she?" Hojo sighed, relocating to the opposite side of the table and sinking back into the red pleather upholstery. He still looked a little moonstruck.  
  
Sesshou barely heard him. He was too busy glaring at the table of guys whose eyes had been glued to Kagome's body as she'd walked to the door. That tailored pink cotton shirt she'd been wearing didn't do much to hide her curves, and the swing of her hips when she walked wasn't consciously sensual, but definitely attracted male attention.  
  
Not that he'd been looking.  
  
Oh, damn it to hell.  
  
Hojo continued to wax poetic, unaware that his audience was only half- listening. "I'd forgotten how pretty she is. Don't you think she's pretty? She's like a flower, but. . . prettier," Hojo finished lamely.  
  
Sesshou's attention had returned to his childhood friend. It seemed that being near Kagome turned him into a bit of a dolt, and that the effects took a little while to go away. Usually, Hojo was smart and perceptive, if a little naïve. One of the things Sesshou liked about him was that he never had a hidden agenda. The guy was utterly genuine, and didn't have a malicious bone in his body.  
  
Sesshou had always found it strange that Hojo's dream-girl hadn't liked him back, but now that he had seen his ultra-smoothness in action, he couldn't help but wince.  
  
He wondered what Hojo would think if he knew that, just the night before, his delicate flower had beaten the crap out of a bunch of gangsters with a metal pipe.  
  
"So Kagome's the girl you've been hung up on all this time," Sesshou commented.  
  
Hojo hung his head and groaned. "I know, I know," he said miserably. "I always come across as such a simpleton around her. My brain doesn't work properly. It's embarrassing." Then, he looked at Sesshou with dawning anxiety. "Hey, you weren't here. . . together, were you?"  
  
He sighed with relief when Sesshou shook his head.  
  
"How do you know her?" Hojo asked curiously.  
  
Sesshou shrugged. "I've seen her around the neighborhood and at school. We've talked a few times. Today, she saved me from a fate worse than death."  
  
Hojo laughed. "Ah, another helpless girl fell prey to your charms?" Sesshou rolled his eyes. Ever since adolescence, Hojo had found it hilarious that he was always fending off unwanted female attention.  
  
"I wouldn't have called this one helpless," Sesshou said ruefully. "Brainless, maybe. Shameless, definitely."  
  
"You're lucky Kagome rescued you," Hojo commented, before leaning forward. "Hey, do you know if she has a boyfriend? Has she mentioned anything?"  
  
"I don't know. It hasn't come up." Sesshou frowned. It hadn't occurred to him that Kagome might be involved with someone, though it was entirely possible - probable, even. She was outgoing, attractive, and funny. There was something magnetic about her.  
  
The thought that she might be seeing someone was decidedly unpalatable, Sesshou realized.  
  
And, even if she was unattached, Hojo was clearly nuts about her. . .  
  
Sesshou groaned inwardly.  
  
Oh, damn it to hell.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note:  
  
I personally like teasers, so I was a bit surprised when the responses of all who had an opinion on the issue were negative. I guess I'll stop posting them.  
  
A side note, for anyone interested: I've started putting together a soundtrack. Go to my site for the songs. It's located at:  
  
www33.brinkster.com/volpa/tmwi/  
  
This chapter's tracks are "Lost, Dropped and Cancelled" for the part with Kagome's family, and "Girl from Mars" for the rest.  
  
Thanks for the reviews! I always get so excited to see that people are actually reading this.  
  
I have exams, so I'll be incommunicado for a little while. Never fear! I will finish, I promise. 


	10. 8 I Just Want to Say

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 8: I Just Want to Say  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own the series.  
  
Rating: Because of adult themes and violence, the FF.net version of is rated R. The MM.org rating has been preemptively upped to NC17, but is still R for the purposes of this chapter.  
  
Summary: Kagome's back in the present, but so is someone else. She and Sesshou are about to meet, and the past and present are set to collide. What exactly happened in Sengoku Jidai? They don't know yet either. 2 stories in 1. Kag/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: Jaken is scarred, Kagome is training, and Sesshoumaru is hunting. The Hayashis are strange. Inuyasha and company are very, very confused. Kikyou appears. Sesshoumaru and Kagome discuss bunny slippers. We're laying some groundwork and having some fun before the heavy stuff.  
  
Soundtrack: www33. brinkster. Com/ volpa/ tmwi  
  
1st half: Swing Kids Soundtrack - "Sing, Sing, Sing"  
  
2nd half: Tommy James and the Shondells - "I Think We're Alone Now"  
  
*****  
  
---Sengoku Jidai---  
  
In the concealing darkness, Jaken cowered. He prayed that he wouldn't be seen.  
  
Since the three members of the household had returned from their trip to the south, Rin had formulated a fresh way to torment him.  
  
The small green creature shuddered with horror, ready to jump out of his wrinkly skin. He blamed the human woman. Somehow, he knew that the little girl could not have arrived at such sadistic method of torture without assistance. He had seen the two of them, smiling and conspiring as they said goodbye. He was sure the miko wench was somehow responsible for his suffering.  
  
Shivering in his hiding spot, Jaken shook his tiny fist and sent a silent curse towards the sky. He could not believe he had been driven to such lengths. His days were now spent concealing himself in the nooks and crannies of the fortress, trying to avoid a human child.  
  
His master could be very cruel, but even he had never terrorized Jaken so.  
  
Jaken's brow furrowed with concern as he thought of Sesshoumaru-sama's demeanor lately. There was something strange about him. Instead of his usual immovable calm, the inuyoukai seemed to radiate an unfamiliar and dangerous energy. Lately, more than usual, Sesshoumaru-sama had been leaving the fortress to prowl his lands, the desire to hunt written in every line of his body.  
  
The loyal retainer was disturbed. He had rarely seen his master like this, except for when he had resolved to take back his father's territory from those who had deposed him, and then later, when he had first decided that he would acquire the Tetsusaiga at any cost.  
  
Those decisions had led to much grief and peril for Jaken, so he was somewhat anxious about this recent development.  
  
Jaken's worrying intensified into utter horror at the sound of Rin's giggle. His eyes bugged out more than usual as his blood froze in his aged veins.  
  
"Jaken! You are being so fun. Rin loves playing hide and seek with you. Kagome was right!"  
  
He pursed his beak sourly as he turned to face her, feeling vindicated. He'd known it! It was all that abominable wench's doing.  
  
Then, Rin started to approach. He closed his eyes in fear. Brandishing the staff of heads before him, he cringed backward, but was halted by the wall's firm surface. Unleashing the staff's power on Rin would lead to his immediate death at Sesshoumaru-sama's hands, but for a moment, he was tempted.  
  
He hoped that she would give up and leave before actually trying to. . . to. . . oh, gods, it was just unspeakable. It was too appalling to verbalize.  
  
Then, the source of all his fears descended upon him, chortling with glee.  
  
Rin drew near, grinning in a particularly horrific way. Then, she leaned down, wrapped her little arms around him, and squeezed warmly.  
  
Jaken convulsed, valiantly fighting the urge to scream. He had found in the past week that it only prolonged and intensified the agony.  
  
Rin smiled, giving him one last press before releasing him. He fell to the ground, a quaking wreck of the youkai he had once been.  
  
Of all the indignities he had been subjected to in his long life, this was the worst. When he had told Sesshoumaru-sama of it, hoping that he would intervene, the taiyoukai had simply raised an aristocratic brow in a way that suggested that he was vaguely amused.  
  
Jaken dropped the staff of heads and wrung his hands, still sprawled on the floor. He was getting too old for this. Oh, gods, the absolute heartlessness of it all. . .  
  
"Kagome told me if I was nicer to Jaken, Jaken would be more fun. And you are! Kagome is very clever," Rin stated with authority. Jaken just lay there, mouth opening and closing, too incensed to speak.  
  
Rin frowned slightly as Jaken clambered to his feet and made a hasty escape.  
  
Then, her face brightened. "Oh, Jaken is going to hide again! This is lots and lots of fun."  
  
Smiling, she sat in the hallway patiently. It was only sporting to give him a head start. He was so very easy to find, after all.  
  
She usually just followed the sound of the staff knocking nervously against the floor.  
  
Rin shook her head compassionately. Jaken really was getting old, if he was trembling all the time. She frowned. Perhaps she should try to hug him more often. Her small brow wrinkled.  
  
He smelled kind of funny, but the hugs did seem to stop him from yelling. He probably found her affection comforting, and he had been going out of his way to entertain her lately.  
  
Sometimes he started running, just so she could chase him. Other times, he hid, so that she could make a game of finding him. The best part was that he never told her when they were going to play. Sometimes, he would hide for hours before she realized what he was doing.  
  
The unpredictability only made it twice as amusing.  
  
Rin got up with renewed resolve. She'd have to be even nicer to him from now on, since he was being so nice to her. "Jaken?" she called. "I'm coming to find you!"  
  
Outside, hidden behind an ornamental shrub, he shivered.  
  
**********  
  
"Where are you? Sesshoumaru! Get out here!" Inuyasha barked, peeved.  
  
In a forest not far from Sesshoumaru's home, Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Shippou watched bemusedly as an irate Inuyasha stalked ahead of them, making as much noise as he possibly could. This was a nice change from the terse silence that had persisted before, but still.  
  
Shippou shook his little head in a way that conjured images of a long- suffering parent. "Quiet down, Inuyasha," he chided reasonably. "Maybe Kaede was right and Kagome is okay. If you act like that, you'll just piss Sesshoumaru off, and we might not be able to find out where she is."  
  
Inuyasha's rampage continued unabated. "Feh! I know he's somewhere nearby!" he grunted. The kit had gotten back to his irritating self immediately after Kaede had told them that Kagome was alive and well. Now, the little fox youkai's prime objective was to find out where Kagome was, go to her, and never let her out of his sight again.  
  
Miroku interceded. "Shippou's right, Inuyasha. There's no reason to force a confrontation." Then, he and Sango simultaneously winced as Inuyasha swiped at a tree with his claws, felling it with an ear-splitting crack.  
  
They were on their way to see Sesshoumaru to inquire about their dear friend's safety and whereabouts. Kaede's message, while somewhat reassuring, had also been remarkable in its vagueness. They planned to ask the youkai lord, civilly, to disclose where he had brought Kagome. Hopefully, by avoiding a fight, they could better gauge whether or not Kagome was actually safe. After all, their previous experiences with Sesshoumaru had generally been less than friendly.  
  
Well, at least Miroku, Sango, and Shippou intended to ask him.  
  
Inuyasha seemed determined to tear a strip off Sesshoumaru with the Tetsusaiga, and then stomp the information out of him, possibly after he was dead. His half-brother was obviously up to no good, Inuyasha thought darkly. Kagome and Kaede were out of their minds to believe him.  
  
Shippou started to talk again, much to Inuyasha's irritation. "Don't you think it's possible that Kagome's actually training? I think it makes sense. After all, she is really strong when she wants to be, and Kaede wasn't worried."  
  
It was true. With a mysterious look on her face, the aged miko had said that Kagome would be all right.  
  
"I doubt that," Inuyasha scoffed. "How many times has that bastard tried to kill us? Why the hell would he help her? Something is going on that we don't know about. She doesn't need to train, anyway. I can protect her."  
  
The others looked meaningfully at Inuyasha.  
  
Oh.  
  
Right.  
  
"Feh!"  
  
If Sesshoumaru had helped Kagome after he himself had unthinkingly left her on her own, he'd eat his own sword. Couldn't she just have stayed where she was for a while? He would have gone back to get her. He'd just needed some time to recover and cool down. After all, it wasn't every day that your best friend proved she didn't think you could get the job done.  
  
Inuyasha twitched restlessly.  
  
It would be just like his snooty half-brother to swoop in, save the day, and make him look bad in comparison, just out of spite.  
  
"I bet she went to train," Shippou went on. "Ow! That hurts!"  
  
A bump slowly materialized on his head as Inuyasha drew his hand back. "Just shut up for a second, will you?" Inuyasha groused, a little subdued.  
  
It didn't last long.  
  
"Sesshoumaru! Get out here so I can kick your ass!" he hollered.  
  
Miroku, ignoring the racket, spoke optimistically to the little fox who was now rubbing his sore head with a petulant expression. "Kagome is very resourceful. I'm sure that she is all right." Sango turned a smile on him, and he felt his heart rate speed up.  
  
"Yes, Shippou," she agreed. "Kagome is probably all right. I doubt that Sesshoumaru would bother to bring her to the village if he intended to harm her."  
  
The taijiya shot Miroku another smile. She'd been doing that more often since he'd stopped the groping.  
  
Of course, it just made her round bottom seem even more appealing. His hand twitched slightly as he walked next to her.  
  
"Don't. Don't do it," Miroku repeated to himself mentally. "She just lost her brother. Don't do it." His hand twitched again.  
  
Shippou, unnoticed by Sango, met Miroku's eye and shook his head slightly with a warning look.  
  
"Even the kid knows you shouldn't do it. Don't. Don't even think about it," Miroku went on. It had become a litany of sorts.  
  
Sango raised an eyebrow as, beside her, the monk muttered under his breath with a strained expression.  
  
He'd been doing that a lot lately.  
  
The four of them walked quietly as, in front of them, Inuyasha caused yet another incident of senseless deforestation.  
  
"I wonder what Kagome's doing right now," Shippou mused brightly. "I bet it's something really important."  
  
**********  
  
Far away, in the cool of the early evening, the young woman in question wiped sweat from her brow. Kagome flexed her aching muscles. Gods, she thought to herself. This was truly grueling.  
  
Though her strength had greatly improved, she wasn't sure she would come out on top this time. Her endurance wasn't all it could be, and her foe was massive.  
  
She readied herself to deal another blow to her opponent. She heard a sickening thud as the impact shot through her numbed arm. One of its limbs fell heavily to the ground.  
  
"Good! Now go higher!" Aya shouted from her relaxed seat on the grass some distance away. The woman was currently munching on a piece of fruit, sharpening a pile of weaponry that glinted brightly at her side. "You'll never finish it off at this rate. Gods! By the time you make your next swing, it will have grown back already!"  
  
Kagome scowled. "Why am I the one who has to do this, anyway? I thought you were the big gun around here!" she hollered in response, giving her axe a mighty swing. "Could you please throw me one of the sharpened things? This is completely pathetic."  
  
She glared at the rusty blade of the axe, sure that it had been forged in man's first fire, before turning her attention back where it belonged.  
  
Aya looked surprised. "Why on earth would I do that? These are good weapons!" She picked up a cloth, cleaning the blade she'd been working on, and then nodded in satisfaction when it shone.  
  
Kagome swung again, her eyes closed against the stuff that flew towards her face.  
  
She grimaced. Eww. It was sticky!  
  
Aya snickered at Kagome's look of disgust. "The reason you're the one doing this is because you're the one who requires strength training. I'm here if you need help, but I don't see why I should have to do everything."  
  
Kagome scowled, but continued with her task. "Yaaaaagh!" she cried. Her foe groaned beneath her.  
  
"My dear husband said that overgrown thing has been blocking sun from his vegetable patch, and you know how Kazuo gets when his garden is involved." Aya grinned, picking up one of her kodachi and bending it to the whetstone. "We're feeding you, and if it's not done by tonight, he might refuse to cook. Believe me," Aya called out as Kagome began hacking anew, "you don't want to eat my cooking. The last time Kazuo was that angry with me, I made a stew that almost killed Seiji."  
  
Kagome had frozen, wide-eyed.  
  
"Of course," Aya continued, tilting her head thoughtfully, "my boy was only ten at the time. I'm sure he has toughened up since then. He might survive."  
  
Kagome stared down at Aya from her perch in the tree and grumbled. Then, she resumed hacking at a particularly heavy branch, her hands stained with sap.  
  
For Seiji, she thought, gritting her teeth. She was doing this for poor, unfortunate Seiji, who had already suffered enough in his lifetime.  
  
Aya was oblivious to Kagome's deep compassion for her son. "Finish that up quickly. Then we can get back to business. I hope you have been meditating like I showed you."  
  
"Yes, mom." Kagome rolled her eyes at Aya, who was now industriously polishing her kodachi.  
  
Some time later, Kagome dropped to the ground and looked at the tree critically. It was a lot smaller than it had been before. She frowned. It was also more lopsided, but she was a miko, not a gardener.  
  
"Good job," Aya said. She stretched lazily where she sat, having completed weapons duty for the day. She looked for all the world like a teenager who'd skipped school and gotten away with something. Kagome sent her a bemused look. When Aya wasn't ordering her around like a drill sergeant, she acted like a bratty younger sister.  
  
Kagome looked at the tank top and pajama bottoms with little blue stars that Aya wore and smirked. She was even borrowing her modern clothes, not that Kagome really minded. Aya was, after all, doing her an immense favour.  
  
The older miko got to her feet. "Let's give the energy control another try now. I know it was very difficult for you yesterday, but it takes some time to get the hang of it."  
  
After some preliminary deep breathing, Kagome nodded decisively. Aya handed Kagome a staff, and assumed a relaxed, defensive stance. "Now, relax. Try to feel the way the strength cycles through you. Find the current."  
  
Kagome concentrated, drawing on the meditative techniques she had been practicing under Aya's tutelage. Ah, she thought. There it was. Slowly, she grasped at her dormant inner power, trying to guide it outward.  
  
Aya looked on in approval as she felt energy begin to roll off Kagome. The young woman's body began to glow. The purplish light flickered and waned, but it was a huge leap in progress from only being able to access the power unconsciously.  
  
"Not bad at all," Aya encouraged. "You're getting a lot better at this. Now that it's coming out, try to shape it."  
  
Kagome nodded and inhaled deeply, holding the staff before her and staring at it. She willed the energy to surround it. Slowly, the weapon began to glow.  
  
Aya grinned. "Good. Now that staff should be strong enough to withstand almost anything. Can you sustain that while we try some of the things you learned in sparring?" she asked curiously.  
  
Her protégé was picking up on this a lot faster than she had dared hope. When Kagome had initially started to work with her miko power, Aya had been surprised at the magnitude of it. It had almost been too much to expect that Kagome could achieve control over it without years of work.  
  
However, Aya had found that Kagome was tougher than she seemed. The young woman had held up well under the physical training, though she was extremely whiny about it, Aya thought dryly.  
  
If she never heard another pained 'Ow! That hurts!' again, it would be too soon.  
  
For all her complaints, Kagome got the job done. After two weeks of exercises and basic combat training, she seemed to be starting to grasp the fundamentals of using her power.  
  
Kagome swung one end of her staff towards Aya, who blocked it easily.  
  
"There was no force behind that blow, Kagome," the miko stated. The glow around the weapon had started to flicker and diminish, but it was still there. "You're doing well with the energy control, though."  
  
"Hold onto it," Aya coaxed as Kagome's brow furrowed in concentration. "Can you feel that your body is sort of humming? Take that sensation and hold onto it. Your power knows where it wants to go, but you have to guide it a bit. Now, try to tap me hard enough that I can feel it. "  
  
The glow around the staff intensified again, and Kagome's mouth quirked up in satisfaction. She pivoted and turned the staff once more in the blink of an eye, using one end to hit high, and immediately swinging the other end towards Aya's legs. Aya crouched and blocked the staff with her forearm, shining with a faint green light.  
  
"Very good!" she applauded. "I had to push back with my energy to stop the force of that one. Your speed is improving as well."  
  
"Oh. Oh, wow," Kagome said, eyes widened. She hadn't moved that fast before in practice, and this time, her body had seemed to know exactly what to do. It seemed that her energy, when used properly, could quicken her movements as well as increase her strength. Then, she noticed with a frown that she was getting tired. "I think it's stopping," she said hesitantly. Though she tried to sustain the flow of power, it waned quickly.  
  
She gave a frustrated sigh when the light guttered out.  
  
Aya noticed her pupil's disheartened expression. "Do not be discouraged," she said reassuringly. "You are advancing far faster than I'd hoped." Aya looked towards the hut. "Later, we can get back to plain sparring. Kazuo will have made dinner by now. Let's go in and eat."  
  
For once, Kagome thought mischievously, someone else was going to have to haul the weapons back inside.  
  
She grinned, and sprinted towards the hut as Aya shouted in protest behind her.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshoumaru paced his fortress chamber, but stopped at the sound of Jaken's harried footsteps as he sprinted past in the hallway.  
  
Rin, no doubt, would soon be on his retainer's heels.  
  
He smirked. It seemed that Kagome's enlivening influence persisted even in her absence. He derived endless amusement from watching Jaken's feeble attempts to evade Rin's clutches. Invariably, she found him. Then, she inflicted her affections on him, unaware that the tiny servant's stillness was born of shock and outrage rather than acquiescence.  
  
If this kept up, Sesshoumaru noted, Rin's hunting skills would improve very rapidly.  
  
Just the other day, he had seen her in the hallway with her ear to the ground. When asked what she was doing, she had replied that she was listening for the sound of the staff of heads thumping against the floor. She had been very pleased when he had voiced his approval.  
  
Sesshoumaru made a mental note to chastise Jaken. He was making it much too easy for Rin to track him. It seemed that he was no longer much of a challenge for the little girl.  
  
At that very moment, Sesshoumaru could hear the shrub beneath his window rustling suspiciously.  
  
The youkai seated himself at the window once more, cursing his current state of distraction, and trying not to think about the cause of it.  
  
These past nights, he had been overcome with restlessness. He was glad of the disturbances in his territory. Leaving the fortress on his own to take care of such matters had become a way for him to redirect his energies. Though the maddened youkai encroaching on his lands weren't much of a challenge to destroy, they still served to turn his thoughts away from a certain dark-eyed miko. Night after night, he went out hunting, and ended any trouble he found with brutal efficiency.  
  
It seemed that, this time around, the shards of the Shikon no Tama had been widely scattered. Rather than some youkai collecting a few shards each, it seemed that many low-level youkai had acquired one shard apiece. They did not have the self-control to master the shards, so the shards had mastered them.  
  
Such creatures had turned their attentions to the wholesale razing and destroying that they enjoyed so much. On the whole, they lacked the intelligence to seek more shards. This lack of vision was truly disappointing, but he supposed that it could lead to troublesome uprisings.  
  
While it would be child's play to put such insurrections down, Sesshoumaru preferred to deal with the idiots one at a time, though the fights were not very satisfying. He had even picked up a few shards from the remains of youkai he had killed.  
  
He supposed that he would give them to Kagome when he next saw her.  
  
At the thought of her, he got up and started to stalk the length of the room once more, leashed aggression coloring his steps.  
  
It was meaningless, he told himself. Kagome was human, and infuriating beyond belief. She drove him insane with the ridiculous way she spoke, her constant arguing, and her utter refusal to give him the deference that was his due.  
  
The crux of his discontent was that, for some reason, her refusal to defer to him only increased his interest. He did not understand why he put up with her eccentricities, and he could not deny that he perceived a kind of strength in her that he admired.  
  
He had come to the disgusted realization that, against all reason, he actually liked the girl.  
  
Though many could no doubt crush her without a thought, she showed a surprising resilience. She feared for her life, but somehow always managed to bear up beneath it. Her stubbornness only seemed to increase when she faced odds that would break others of her breed.  
  
Feeling his claws prick against his palms, he noticed with mild surprise that he had unconsciously formed his hands into fists. He examined the small puncture marks absently, and was reminded of the heated sensation of soft lips against his skin.  
  
His palms felt marked with the memory of her waist beneath his hands. He wondered if she was as soft and warm everywhere else.  
  
Perhaps he was in breeding rut. That might explain this sudden and persistent interest in her, though it hadn't ever caused him such difficulty in the past.  
  
Since he had left her with the other miko, he had found himself waking from dreams of her. Her scent filled his head, and the imagined taste and feel of her body caused his to seize with frustrated lust.  
  
Even worse than this hunger for her was the voice in his head that dogged him at every opportunity, always with the same question.  
  
Why not?  
  
Sesshoumaru was used to getting what he wanted. Was this any different?  
  
He paused, entertaining the idea for a moment. It wasn't unheard of for youkai to indulge themselves with humans every now and then. Though he had never had the urge to do so, there was no real stigma attached to it.  
  
Taking one as a mate, or designating a hanyou as one's heir was a completely different story. That, he thought bitterly, led to nothing but disgrace.  
  
He, however, was in no danger of doing such a thing. Sesshoumaru walked back to the window and looked outside, though the view was lost on him.  
  
She would be receptive. Kagome was in no way immune to him. He had no doubt that she felt the same hunger.  
  
He could smell it when he was near.  
  
A flood of heat filled him as he imagined just how good it would be. Would she tremble under his mouth, or move demandingly against him? He shuddered, almost seeing her flushed face, almost feeling the slick slide of her flesh on his, almost tasting her sweat on his tongue as he drove into her. He could almost hear her, almost . . .  
  
Sesshoumaru's awareness of his surroundings returned. Sounds from beneath the window penetrated the mental fog, as an anguished yelp caught his attention.  
  
Evidently, Jaken had been found. Rin squealed with delight at having won her game. Sesshoumaru heard the aged youkai mutter, "Leave me in peace, diabolical child!"  
  
The crotchety complaint was cut off abruptly, and a muffled croak made its way to Sesshoumaru's ears.  
  
He smirked, briefly awash in schadenfreude.  
  
The more Jaken ran, the greater Rin's determination to find him, it seemed.  
  
Night would soon fall in his lands. Sesshoumaru pulled on his armor and picked up his swords.  
  
A look of anticipation flickered across his features.  
  
His blood was up. It was time to hunt.  
  
**********  
  
When there was no problem in the area for Aya to hunt down, she seemed at a loss as to what to do.  
  
Ever since Kagome's arrival, Aya had amply demonstrated that, though she might be a formidable fighter, she was positively clueless in almost all domestic respects. She always wanted to be where the action was. Meanwhile, Kazuo took care of everyday matters, all while preserving an almost unearthly calm.  
  
"How did you and Kazuo get together, anyway?" Kagome asked curiously. They had finished dinner. Aya had a firm belief in lounging around until the meal had settled. Later, they would likely train.  
  
For now, however, Aya seemed to be bursting with restlessness. Kazuo had gone outside to check on his vegetable patch. As was his habit, Seiji had gone into the woods to do some trap maintenance. The trip-cords leading to the noisemakers by the hut often became tangled or broken.  
  
Aya laughed. "We are quite a strange pair, are we not?" The woman leaned back on her hands with a sigh, having satisfactorily completed her weapons maintenance for the day.  
  
Kagome smiled and took another sip of tea. Aya was settling in for a long girl-talk, making up for years of being surrounded by men. Kagome suspected that the miko's willingness to train her had been motivated less by altruism, and more by the promise of a captive audience.  
  
The young woman sighed happily. Kazuo always seemed to make the most marvelous tea.  
  
Aya tilted her head as she began to tell her story. "When I first met Kazuo, he was a little younger than Seiji is now. I guess I was in my mid- forties."  
  
"Cradle robber!" Kagome heckled cheerfully with a sidelong look.  
  
Aya was unperturbed. "That was what I thought as well. Anyway, I had wandered for many years. I didn't like to stay too long in one place."  
  
Kagome nodded. She'd noticed that Aya was a restless individual. She always seemed to have something else to do. However, Kagome thought ruefully as she recalled her earlier pruning duty, the woman's need to be elsewhere seemed to become twice as pressing when there were unpleasant chores to be done.  
  
"One day," Aya continued, "I came upon a village in trouble. Gods, it always seemed like there was a village in trouble. Then, they always did something completely silly, like sacrifice someone, or form angry mobs. . . " The miko trailed off, evidently piqued.  
  
Kagome nodded vigorously. "Don't I know it!" she stated in agreement.  
  
Aya took a fortifying draught of her tea. "Anyway, the dumb villagers had formed a mob to go after the youkai that had been threatening the town," she continued. "The problem was that the youkai were the sort that ate children. All the able-bodied farmers had gone off with torches and weapons. The place was left completely undefended."  
  
Kagome rolled her shoulders gingerly and winced at the ache before turning her attention back to the story. "Let me guess," she said dryly. "Kazuo is not the type to join a reckless mob, is he?"  
  
Aya grinned. "Of course not. He was the only man who stayed in the village." The woman leaned back against the wall. "The problem was that he never has been much of a fighter. Even back then, he was a man of peace." She smiled affectionately.  
  
"Anyway, when I arrived at the village, the most gorgeous man I had ever seen was dangling out of a youkai's mouth in the middle of the town. He seemed completely unperturbed at his precarious position, and kept whacking it across the nose with a large scroll to distract it from the children nearby."  
  
Kagome, who had been reaching for a piece of fruit, was overcome with a fit of giggles. "Oh, gods," she gasped. "I can just picture it. He was probably making tea, and then the youkai grabbed him. . . " The young woman collapsed breathlessly onto the mat she sat on, convulsing in mirth.  
  
"Isn't it so like Kazuo?" Aya asked wryly, watching Kagome with amusement. "After I got to know him, I was surprised he did not give the youkai a stern talking-to before resuming his reading."  
  
"So what happened?" Kagome asked curiously.  
  
Aya shrugged, turning her teacup in her hands. "Well, I killed the youkai and saved him, of course. He was injured. I left him with the village healer and was on my way. Then, two weeks later, I realized that I was being followed."  
  
Kagome smiled. "It must have been Kazuo."  
  
Aya let out a long-suffering sigh. "Of course it was Kazuo, complete with tea-kettle and numerous scrolls, I might add. He really is the most impractical man when it comes to packing. He had gotten some strange idea in his head that, since I'd saved him, he would travel with me and help me." The miko's cocked eyebrow showed just what she had thought of that situation.  
  
Kagome laughed. "Oh gods, what did you do?"  
  
"What would you do if someone, who to all appearances couldn't defend himself, started to follow you around while you were doing extremely dangerous things?" Aya asked with a smirk.  
  
"I don't know," Kagome shrugged. "Did you tell him to go away?"  
  
Aya chuckled. "Telling him to go home had no effect whatsoever. He's very stubborn. My solution was to tie him up while he slept, carry him to the nearest village, and then leave him there while I escaped under cover of night. Repeatedly."  
  
Kagome had sat up, and was making strange choking sounds around her mouthful of fruit. Aya thumped her on the back helpfully.  
  
"You know," she continued, deep in thought, "for such a hopeless fighter, Kazuo demonstrated some very impressive tracking skills. I still cannot understand how he managed to remain on my trail for those two years."  
  
Two years? Kagome, who had finally recovered, started to cough anew.  
  
Aya smacked her back hard enough to make Kagome wince. "I swear, I must have abandoned him in at least fifty different villages before I gave up."  
  
Kagome gave up on breathing and turned purple, as Aya watched with concern. "Go on," Kagome requested when she was capable of speech once again. She took a restorative gulp of tea.  
  
Aya nodded. "He really is the sweetest man. I couldn't help but miss him when I left him behind. " Aya said quietly. "After years of traveling alone, I had lost my taste for life's comforts. I did mention that my cooking is terrible, right? Aside from the fact that my standard of living skyrocketed when Kazuo was around, we talked about things he'd done and read. I relaxed enough around him to tell him about my life. Eventually, I was only half-heartedly covering my trail, so that he could find me easily. I continued to tell myself that leaving him behind was for his own good."  
  
Aya looked down for a moment, and then refilled both their teacups. "Then, one day, more than a week passed with no sign of him. It had never taken him that long to find me before."  
  
"What did you do?" Kagome asked, leaning forward.  
  
"Well, I could not function for too long without him, you see." Aya leaned back again, a faraway look in her eyes. "I searched for him. I thought something had happened, and agonized over the possibility that he had been injured or killed. I could not sleep at night, worrying."  
  
The older miko's eyes darkened with remembered anxiety, and she didn't say anything for a moment.  
  
"Eventually, I went back to the last village I left him in. He was still there, safe and sound, while I had been a complete wreck. I lost my temper. I think I screamed and cried for about ten minutes before I noticed that he was livid. In all that time, I'd never once seen him lose his composure or raise his voice."  
  
Kagome tried, but couldn't imagine Kazuo angry.  
  
"He started to shout at me!" Aya exclaimed, her voice incredulous.  
  
Shocked, Kagome's eyes rounded.  
  
"He said that if, after two years, I was too stupid to figure out that he followed me because he was in love with me, he was going to give up for good. He would stay in that village, and never bother me again. Apparently, he was tired of waiting around for me to come to my senses."  
  
Kagome attempted to picture Kazuo making any such scene, and utterly failed. Once, she thought she'd seen him look mildly annoyed. Then, she'd realized that the lighting in the room was merely casting a strange shadow across his usual genial expression.  
  
"He also added that I'd save money on rope, once I stopped having to tie him up and leave him places." She looked at the floor and shook her head. "Kazuo was always such a thrifty fellow," Aya commented with a sigh.  
  
"I was speechless. He stormed out of the hut and left me there to think about it after stating, and I quote, that I should sit there until what he had said penetrated my thick skull."  
  
"That's so romantic," Kagome sighed.  
  
Aya looked at the girl askance. She obviously had a strange idea of romance.  
  
"What did you do?" Kagome asked.  
  
Aya shrugged. "Well, what could I do? He was right, as usual. I was stupid. After wandering for so long, it hadn't occurred to me that I had been feeling settled since we'd met. I still traveled, but Kazuo had become my home. I couldn't imagine being happy without him. Plus, did I mention that he was the handsomest thing I had ever seen?" She sighed melodramatically, provoking a chuckle from Kagome.  
  
"He knew everything about me, and didn't seem to mind that I was something of a freak. I did not know if we could ever have a family, but it didn't seem to bother him too much." Aya smiled. "After a couple of hours sitting in that hut, I came to a decision. I packed up his kettle and his scrolls, and waited for him to come back. However, when he showed up, Kazuo had other ideas."  
  
Kagome leaned forward in suspense. She should have known that Aya would have had a weird courtship, but this was just too much.  
  
"He dragged the village chief along with him when he walked in the door. I think Kazuo went into his house and hauled the man away from his dinner. The poor fellow looked terrified. Kazuo was ranting that I could either marry him then and there, or leave him in the village. Then he yelled at the top of his lungs that I would never find another man who would put up with being tied hand and foot on a regular basis just to be near me."  
  
Aya grinned and shook her head. "Needless to say, the chief practically begged me to marry poor Kazuo, thinking that they didn't need another madman to settle there. There was already one character in the village who ran around mooing like a cow."  
  
"Seriously?" Kagome's eyes had gone wide once more. She wasn't sure what was weirder; the mental image of cow-man, or the thought of Kazuo getting fired up enough to yell at somebody. "Interesting."  
  
"Yes, very." Aya agreed. "I am told that he was driven out when he started asking the village girls to milk him."  
  
The miko snickered before continuing. "Anyway, Kazuo and I were married that day, and continued to travel. He was tiring of our lifestyle, though he did not complain of it. Then, I became pregnant with Seiji, which was a nice surprise. We had thought I would not be able to bear children. When we came back here, we settled in for a while, since we had a fondness for the village we were married in. We did not want to risk anything with the pregnancy, and I became accustomed to having roots. We have not moved since."  
  
Aya smiled. "Some of the older villagers still remember finding Kazuo asleep, bound hand and foot, in the middle of town. I was told later that the children were poking him with sticks, but he didn't even notice. He is truly impossible to wake up." She shook her head fondly. "Sometimes I carried him over my shoulder for hours over rough terrain, and he'd still be sleeping like a baby when I dumped him in whatever village was closest."  
  
Kagome laughed, before commenting, "That's a really sweet story."  
  
Aya laughed in the firelight. "Perhaps it is. He is my rock." Her piquant features drew into a frown. "Since I achieved control over my powers, I have not aged a day. I am sure to outlive both my husband and my son. I don't know if I can stand it. Be aware, Kagome, that should you acquire the same ability, you may suffer the same anxieties." She seemed to forcibly shake off the shadow that had passed over her face, and then got to her feet with a sigh.  
  
Kagome frowned slightly. Being able to live that long didn't seem like a good thing at all. Watching one's loved ones pass on would be torturous.  
  
It seemed like her choices were to either perish immediately, or to live an unnaturally long life that would be filled with loss. Neither option was all that appealing.  
  
"How will I know if that happens?" she asked tentatively. "What did it feel like?"  
  
"Well," Aya began, scrunching her nose in thought, "it is sort of hard to explain. I just knew. After my father died at the hands of a youkai, I found that I became much stronger. The pain of his death and the feeling that I failed to defend him unleashed my strength in some way, but I still had to consciously control it. Some time later, a feeling of unity and balance washed over me. My energy obeyed my will without any effort. I could feel its current at all times, and knew that my body was constantly renewing itself."  
  
Aya shrugged. "I wish I could tell you more. If it happens to you, you will know."  
  
"So how long will you live?" Kagome asked.  
  
"That, I do not know," Aya replied. "I have no one to ask."  
  
Then, she huffed with frustration. "Seiji does not seem in any rush to marry and give me grandchildren. I do not know what to do with that boy!" Aya's arms crossed over her chest, foot tapping impatiently on the mat- covered floor. "The village girls like him well enough. He does take after his father, after all," she confided with a wink.  
  
"Unfortunately, he does not notice any of it. Perhaps I shall have to take matters into my own hands," Aya stated with terrifying resolve.  
  
"I have a friend who has the opposite problem," Kagome said with a grin. "He has far too much interest in women. Actually, he asks all the girls he meets to have his child. Just be glad Seiji isn't like that."  
  
Aya sighed. "Yes, it might be difficult if Seiji were like that, but. . . grandchildren." The older woman paused thoughtfully. Kagome watched nervously as the older miko cast a speculative look towards her.  
  
"Hey! You're scaring me!" Kagome exclaimed. "Not that Seiji isn't a nice guy, but -I'm very young. And you. . . as a mother-in law? I mean, you're not scary in a bad way or anything. . . " Kagome gave up on talking, choosing instead to hide her face in her hands.  
  
Stupid mouth, she thought to herself.  
  
Aya grinned fiendishly. "Do not worry. His liking for you gives me hope that he will take a more active interest in the village girls soon," she replied. "I would like Seiji to settle down with a pleasant woman who won't endanger his life on a regular basis like I have. Then," she added with a nod and an unholy gleam in her eye, "my grandchildren can keep me company in my old age."  
  
Kagome sighed, feeling a twinge of pity for Aya's future relations. Especially, she thought wryly, if Aya chose to train any of them to fight.  
  
She stretched her back and whimpered.  
  
Yep, Kagome thought to herself. She was still sore. It tended to be her general condition these days.  
  
"All right!" Aya exclaimed to Kagome's dismay, dusting her hands off decisively and making a beeline for the weapons storage. Obviously, the time for talking was over. "Are you ready to learn how to kill things?"  
  
**********  
  
"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Inuyasha raged, flinging himself towards his bored-looking half-brother as he drew his sword.  
  
Sesshoumaru blurred past Inuyasha, dodging his attack.  
  
The rest of Inuyasha's company looked on in dismay, braced for battle. Sesshoumaru had appeared only moments earlier, having no doubt heard Inuyasha's yelling and crashing around from miles away. To make things worse, Inuyasha's anger was putting him at a disadvantage.  
  
Sango swung Hiraikotsu into position on her shoulder, and Miroku grasped the prayer beads that bound his air void. Shippou had hidden himself behind Kirara.  
  
It seemed that the plan to ask politely after Kagome would have to be scrapped.  
  
Annoyed, Sesshoumaru knocked Inuyasha onto his back with a vicious punch. A spray of rubble flew into the air as Inuyasha hit the forest floor with tremendous force.  
  
Sesshoumaru stayed where he was, and wiped his hand on his sash with an expression of vague distaste.  
  
Great. Now his hand smelled like hanyou.  
  
The cloud of dust emitted an angry cry.  
  
"KAZE NO KIZU!"  
  
Miroku, Sango and Shippou winced simultaneously as trees and rocks were gouged from the earth in the path of Inuyasha's sword. The ground shook. Tetsusaiga's attack left nothing but smoking trenches in what had, just moments before, been a lovely grove of trees.  
  
Sesshoumaru, high above them, was starting to feel a bit piqued. He could see this forest area from his window, and had no doubt from this vantage point that it would be a good deal less aesthetically pleasing from now on.  
  
When he'd initially encountered the group, he had not intended to hurt Inuyasha.  
  
Well, not too much, anyway.  
  
After all, his bastard half-brother was one of the strongest on Kagome's list of allies. She would likely need them soon. Not that he really cared what she needed, of course; he simply harbored ill will towards Naraku, and would be pleased to see him destroyed. Thus, Sesshoumaru had found himself coming to the unpleasant conclusion that he should avoid killing the dumb hanyou. Allowing Inuyasha to live would further his own objectives.  
  
However, enough was enough.  
  
Sesshoumaru alighted. "If your tiny brain is capable of thought, you will stop this foolishness before I kill you," he stated in chilled syllables.  
  
Inuyasha's hackles rose as he turned to face his opponent. Sesshoumaru always managed to find a way to treat him like a bit of dirt besmirching his immaculate shoe. "What did you do to Kagome, you bastard? She's dead, isn't she!"  
  
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow and remained infuriatingly silent, flicking an imaginary bit of dust from his sleeve. He knew that his relaxed, unconcerned posture would infuriate his brother and cause him to-  
  
"KAZE NO KIZU!" Inuyasha roared, utterly enraged.  
  
The Lord of the Western Lands, high in the air once more, looked upon another unsightly hole in his previously beautiful morning view and scowled.  
  
"Stop it, Inuyasha!" Shippou yelled from his seat on Kirara.  
  
Sango's grip on Hiraikotsu shifted as she crouched into an attack position.  
  
Then, Sesshoumaru attacked. He sped forward, seizing Inuyasha's sword arm in a vise-like grip and searing him with poison. Inuyasha swiped at him with his other hand, claws extended, until Sesshoumaru immobilized it as well, digging his own claws into Inuyasha's flesh. The hanyou's face froze into a gratifying mask of pain as Tetsusaiga was thrown to the ground some distance away.  
  
"I thought that Father's sword was supposed to prevent you from fighting like an idiot until you died," Sesshoumaru snarled derisively, finally releasing his grip to deal another hard punch to Inuyasha's midsection. The rest of the group looked on in horror as the force of the blow sent Inuyasha plowing through the wreckage of the grove towards them.  
  
Sesshoumaru followed.  
  
"What did you do to her? You're gonna pay!" Inuyasha continued to shout as he slowly regained his feet.  
  
Miroku's hold on his beads tightened behind Inuyasha. There was no time to get around him; Sesshoumaru was closing in fast. If he unleashed the air void now, from this position, he would likely get Inuyasha as well, but he could not allow Inuyasha to die if he could do anything about it. Perhaps if he timed it just right, he could manage it.  
  
Kirara tensed, ready to spring, at Sango's side.  
  
Then, Sesshoumaru stopped, picked Inuyasha up by the scruff of his neck, and slammed him face-first into the ground next to where Tetsusaiga lay.  
  
Inuyasha remained inert as Sesshoumaru kicked him experimentally. The youkai smirked faintly, shrugged, and kicked him again for purely recreational reasons. Then, he stepped onto the hanyou's back and turned to face Inuyasha's rather stunned companions.  
  
Miroku was the first to collect his wits after the rather uncharacteristic display. Sango had lowered her weapon in shock, and Shippou was peeking hesitantly at the scene through Kirara's fur.  
  
Sesshoumaru had been their adversary in their past encounters, but something different was going on this time. He had not seriously retaliated, though in all honesty, he would have been perfectly justified in doing so. Miroku thought that, after being attacked by Inuyasha with so little provocation, the youkai would have done something a good deal more lethal than knocking Inuyasha out. And kicking him. And then kicking him again.  
  
Suddenly, the idea that Kagome was all right didn't seem so farfetched after all.  
  
A slight smile broke across the monk's face. Miroku decided to cut to the chase. "We were told by Kaede that you accompanied Kagome to the village. Where is she now?" he inquired cautiously.  
  
Shippou hopped off Kirara's back and hurried over to Miroku's side at the mention of Kagome's name. Sango lifted Hiraikotsu back into ready position, just in case.  
  
Beneath Sesshoumaru's feet, Inuyasha made a muffled groaning sound. Sesshoumaru casually booted him in the head once more. The noise abruptly ceased.  
  
"Stubborn fool," Sesshoumaru grunted. He looked back up at his half- brother's compatriots, as collected as ever. "Kagome is in the South. She has elected to train with a miko there," he stated succinctly.  
  
"Is she hurt?" Shippou piped anxiously, wringing his tiny hands. "Is she all right?"  
  
"She is in good health," Sesshoumaru replied shortly. "When I found her, she was wounded, but she healed before we visited the miko hag."  
  
"Don't call Kaede a hag!" a muffled voice protested from under Sesshoumaru.  
  
For a split second, Inuyasha's companions - the monk, especially - looked amused.  
  
"Why should we believe you anyway?" Inuyasha asked through a faceful of moss and rubble. "Damn it, Sesshoumaru, get off me. You're heavy," he continued. Sesshoumaru's foot met the back of Inuyasha's head again with a satisfying thud. The youkai smirked when the hanyou fell blessedly silent once more.  
  
Shippou rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. It often seemed to him as though he was the most mature person around for miles.  
  
The taijiya stepped forward, with a hard glint in her eye. "Why should we believe you?" she asked bluntly. "Do you have any proof that Kagome is in good health? She has, after all, caused trouble for you in the past. How do we know you didn't kill her?"  
  
Sesshoumaru sent her a dark look. These pathetic creatures doubted his word? He noticed that the young fox's face had fallen at the taijiya's words. He'd seen this kit before, he remembered. The pup clung to Kagome as a pup would to its mother.  
  
Gods, he thought to himself. He couldn't believe he had been reduced to proving himself to these misfits. After a moment's thought, he slipped his hand into his clothing and withdrew a small item from its folds.  
  
"She went through the well to her own time. After she returned, the girl gave me this," he replied coolly, extending his hand to reveal what he held.  
  
As one, Miroku, Sango and Shippou stared in shock at something they had never thought they would see: the Lord of the Western Lands, clutching a rainbow swirl lollipop.  
  
Shippou let out a squeal of happiness. He was overcome with the sudden certainty that Kagome was alive, as well as the promise of sugar that hovered only slightly out of his reach.  
  
Noticing the beady look of anticipation in the little kit's eye, Sesshoumaru tucked the lollipop back into its hiding-place.  
  
"It is. . . Rin's," he said evenly.  
  
Shippou's expression fell, until he remembered that they could now find out where Kagome was. "Can we go and get Kagome now?" he asked Sango and Miroku.  
  
"Where exactly is she?" Sango asked, ruffling Shippou's hair as she moved to stand next to him and Miroku. It would be wonderful to see her friend again.  
  
"The fighting miko who is teaching her lives in a hut on the outskirts of a forest and marsh. It lies just beyond the southern border," Sesshoumaru replied. "I suppose that you may go to see her, though it would serve little purpose. She knows what must be done."  
  
Sango and Miroku shared a look, doubt clouding their eyes once more. Was Sesshoumaru trying to keep them from Kagome for some reason?  
  
Sesshoumaru continued dispassionately. "Kagome will be unable to collect shards as she trains, and is aware that Naraku is likely trying to find them now, while they are still in the possession of weak youkai. If you value your lives and the girl's, collect as many shards as possible as soon as possible. Naraku is likely weakened and unable to create the detachments that have plagued you in the past."  
  
The monk's brow furrowed. It was true, he realized. It hadn't been until Kikyou had given Naraku the shards they had collected that the detachments had started to attack them.  
  
Sesshoumaru stepped off Inuyasha's back. The hanyou groaned, slowly returning to lucidity.  
  
"Whatever you do, it is none of my concern," the youkai lord finished coldly. "Die if you wish."  
  
He gave Inuyasha one last sadistic prod with his foot, and then wisps of cloud seemed to gather around him, bearing him into the air with great speed as the others watched in bewilderment.  
  
"Well," Sango exhaled. "That was. . . interesting."  
  
Shippou leapt into Sango's arms and looked quizzically up at her and Miroku. "So we can't visit Kagome? We have to help her. If we get to the shards before Naraku does, all of us will be better off, right?"  
  
Miroku nodded as he helped their rather dazed friend back to his feet. "What happened?" Inuyasha asked, blinking in confusion.  
  
"Uh. . . Inuyasha?" Shippou asked as the hanyou turned to look around him for his fallen sword.  
  
"Huh?" he asked, rubbing his face gingerly. Gods, but his head really hurt, particularly the back of it, for reasons unknown to him. Inuyasha reached back and felt several bumps rising beneath his hair.  
  
What the hell had happened to him?  
  
"You have footprints all over your back," the kit informed him helpfully.  
  
Inuyasha's expression soured as images started to resurface in his muddy brain. Oh, right. Sesshoumaru had knocked him out and then stomped all over him while he wove in and out of consciousness, that dirty little. . .  
  
"Damn it! You're going to regret that next time I see you, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha yelled into the sky.  
  
High above them, some distance away, Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes at his half-brother's cry of bravado.  
  
**********  
  
A faraway noise interrupted Kagome's rest.  
  
As time went on at the Hayashi residence, Kagome started to feel very much like part of the family.  
  
Especially if 'feeling like part of the family' meant endless, inescapable persecution, she thought darkly as she snuggled further under her sleeping bag. It was probably dawn, and that meant. . .  
  
Right on cue, a horrible racket began, and came to a halt at her screen door. The woefully thin barrier slid open with a crash.  
  
"Get up, get up!" Aya cried, gleefully banging on a pot with the ladle that she had snatched from a disapproving Kazuo.  
  
Kagome moaned, pulling her sleeping bag over her head. Who needed an alarm clock when one had Aya around?  
  
"Kagome! Rise and shine!" Clang! Clang!  
  
Unfortunately, Aya did not have any of the advanced features that Kagome had come to appreciate. For instance, the woman glaringly lacked a snooze button.  
  
Suddenly, Kagome missed the modern era very much.  
  
"Go away," the lump beneath the covers pleaded in a sleepy voice. "This is inhumane. I'm going to report you. I demand my human rights."  
  
"You will miss breakfast," Aya said, completely undeterred by Kagome's call for amnesty. "I have a long day planned for you."  
  
"No." Kagome's muffled voice resounded with alarm. "I am still sore from yesterday. And the day before, and. . . and I am now officially on strike!"  
  
Aya shook her head at the nonsense that Kagome seemed to spout each and every morning. 'On strike'? 'Inhumane'? 'Human rights'? Ridiculous!  
  
"Get up, or I will make you do fifty lunges," Aya countered with abrasive cheer, giving the pot another thwack for good measure.  
  
Kagome's eyes snapped open at that tidbit. She threw the covers off, and bolted past Aya into the eating area.  
  
By the time Aya replaced Kazuo's prized kitchen tools and took a seat in the eating area, the others were digging in.  
  
"If you rub a bit of garlic around the inside of the pot first, it adds that extra bit of flavour," Kazuo advised Kagome with the air of a master educating a young apprentice.  
  
"Mmm," Kagome nodded, taking another spoonful of soup. "Mine is always a little bland. I will try that. Yours turns out perfectly every time."  
  
Kazuo smiled beatifically.  
  
Aya sighed. "I find that if you just throw everything into a pot and leave it for a while, it generally comes out edible." Seiji looked at her with remembered fear. "Well, most of the time," she quickly qualified.  
  
She cringed beneath Kazuo's slightly scandalized gaze as Seiji grinned.  
  
"No offense, Aya," Kagome interjected, "but I'm going to follow Kazuo's advice in anything food-related. Your tips work best when applied to killing things."  
  
Seiji started to choke on a mouthful of rice. Once he recovered, he looked surreptitiously at Kagome, whose attention had returned to her food.  
  
"Seiji," Aya drawled. "What exactly are you staring at, young man?"  
  
He turned red and started to cough again. Aya thumped her son's back as Kagome looked up, wondering what had inspired that mischievous grin on the miko's face. Kazuo just shook his head slightly, and continued with his breakfast, inured to such chaos.  
  
Not having sufficiently embarrassed her son, Aya ruffled his dark hair affectionately.  
  
"Mother," he groaned, looking down at his food.  
  
"Kagome," Aya began. "Is it all right if I send some of your clothes to the village seamstress today? I would like to ask if she can make similar things for me."  
  
Kagome nodded and set her empty bowl aside. "Of course," she replied. "Just go through my pack and take whatever you like." Aya finished her food and repaired to Kagome's room to do just that.  
  
When she returned with a bundle of clothing, breakfast had been cleaned up. Kagome was outside, patching her bicycle tire as Seiji asked questions about the contents of her maintenance kit.  
  
Truly, Kagome had the most interesting things, he thought. She was using some strange apparatus to pump air into the rubber rings.  
  
Aya stood in the doorway with Kazuo, and kissed him on the cheek. "I will send Seiji to speak with the seamstress," Aya informed him with a sly smile.  
  
Kazuo wrapped a loving arm around her waist and shook his head. "You are incorrigible," he remarked.  
  
She grinned in response. "It is purely coincidental that both the seamstress and her assistant are beautiful and unmarried, husband."  
  
"Yes, dear," Kazuo agreed wryly. "I am sure that you are in no way motivated by your all-consuming obsession with grandchildren."  
  
"Of course not," she returned impishly. "I would never be so crass."  
  
Kazuo sighed. "He is smitten with Kagome," he remarked under his breath. "Hopefully, it will soon pass. When will the youkai lord arrive?"  
  
Aya shrugged. "She said a month from his departure, so in a week or so."  
  
Kazuo tilted his head slightly. "Perhaps Seiji should be sent to the weaver's stall as well," he remarked. "To see about fabric for your new garments, of course."  
  
Aya paused, before exclaiming, "Why, you cunning man!" The weaver had three daughters that should have reached marriageable age by now. "I am lucky to have such a brilliant husband."  
  
Kazuo laughed and headed towards his garden. "I will be making preserves today," he told her. "Do not work Kagome too hard."  
  
Aya smiled. "She will survive," she called after him.  
  
"Barely," Kazuo appended in a tone so dry that, if properly harnessed, it would be capable of dehydrating an entire season's harvest in seconds.  
  
Aya laughed, sent Seiji into the village with a bundle of clothing, and retrieved her unfortunate pupil.  
  
**********  
  
Later that afternoon, Kagome was going through some forms under the miko's watchful eye. "You have made much progress," Aya commented in an objective tone.  
  
Kagome swung her staff in wide arcs, pivoting quickly to follow her sweep with a strong kick.  
  
The purple glow that surrounded both the girl and her weapon was relatively steady in strength, wavering only slightly when Aya stepped forward, drew her kodachi, and sent one flying towards the younger woman's midsection.  
  
Kagome's staff quickly flew upward, knocking Aya's weapon aside. Then, the staff changed course towards the older miko's neck until she blocked it with her forearm and leapt out of range. Kagome pulled her energy back inside herself, rested the end of her staff on the ground and leaned on it slightly. Her brow was sheened with sweat from both physical and mental exertion.  
  
"Not bad!" Aya exclaimed. "I was almost working at half speed there."  
  
Almost half speed? Kagome groaned and sagged towards the ground as Aya continued perkily.  
  
"I think it is time we discussed some tactics. Your combat skills are coming along, but you have to know where to hit. If you were to be on the ground with a youkai on top of you, what would you do?"  
  
Kagome flushed slightly. That, she thought to herself, was a really excellent question, considering recent events and a certain visitor who would be appearing rather soon.  
  
"Not like THAT," Aya said disgustedly. Kagome had been becoming more distracted as the time of the little girl's visit drew nearer. However, the older woman was quite sure that it wasn't the thought of Rin that was causing Kagome's preoccupation.  
  
The young woman's resemblance to a tomato only grew as the silence lengthened.  
  
Aya sighed before asking, "All right. Shall we move on?"  
  
Kagome nodded vigorously. "Please," she replied in a meek tone. Satisfied, Aya resumed her lecture.  
  
"Your energy is purifying energy. That means that it should be able to burn through almost any part of a youkai, even if you are fighting with a staff and not a blade. If you cannot identify what areas are vulnerable, try to immobilize the creature. Chop off its legs, or cut off its arms. No matter how strong something is, it should not be able to attack you very well while dragging itself along, even if it can regenerate."  
  
"Gross!" Kagome exclaimed, wrinkling her nose.  
  
"I know," Aya replied. "It is messy to hack something to pieces that way, but if you are too cocky against a strong opponent, you will probably lose. If you want to fight fair to begin with, that is your decision. Just be aware that if it proves to be a hard kill, it is expedient to fight as dirty as you can. Aim to disable."  
  
Kagome gave up on standing and slid to a seat on the grass. Using her energy was still so draining, she thought in disgruntlement.  
  
Aya marched back and forth in front of her as she imparted yet more of her really disgusting knowledge.  
  
"Go for the eyes, neck, and the main body area, if you have a choice. Decapitation is a good bet, if you can get that close. Believe me, it's extremely frightening when something continues to charge you without a head though; be prepared."  
  
"Just when I thought this conversation couldn't get any more repulsive," Kagome piped weakly. Her face had taken on a slightly greenish cast. "Aya, you never cease to amaze me."  
  
The older woman smiled. "Why thank you, Kagome. I am glad to be of service," she joked. Then, her tone turned businesslike once more.  
  
"Another advantage that you have is that you can use your energy as a weapon if you are ever disarmed. When you become more adept, you will be able to use blasts of your power to purify your enemies. In fact, if you are wrapping your energy around yourself, your entire body should be capable of burning your opponent through bodily contact, and will act a little like a shield as well."  
  
Kagome sighed. "The problem is that I can feel a lot of power just waiting to be used, but I can't get at it." She looked towards her feet. "It takes so much out of me to control it."  
  
"Do not worry," Aya said, sitting down next to Kagome. "For now, it most likely comes and goes. There is a hump that you must get over," Aya said with authority. "It took me some time as well, but eventually, the use of your power will become natural to you. It will get easier. Remember, you also use arrows, which is a stroke of luck. If you want to practice, just set a target up wherever you like. I, however, will not be able to help in that regard."  
  
"Really? Why not?" Kagome asked curiously.  
  
"Do not tell anyone," Aya warned her as she looked suspiciously from side to side, "but I am truly horrible. Kazuo made me stop practicing after my arrow burned a large hole in the wall of the hut. He was worried for Seiji." The miko looked abashed. "I have not used a bow since."  
  
"You hit the hut?" Kagome's question was greeted with a blush from Aya.  
  
"Yes," the woman replied miserably, staring at the ground. "I don't like to talk about it. Shall we move on?"  
  
"What exactly were you aiming for?"  
  
"Uh. . . the weather is very nice today, is it not?" Aya looked up at the sky, trying her hardest to change the subject. Her fingers clenched in the grass on either side of her.  
  
"Aya," Kagome persisted. "What were you trying to hit?"  
  
The woman beside Kagome sighed and turned a deeper shade of red. "I stood where we are sitting now, and was aiming for the tree that you cut down earlier," she mumbled.  
  
Kagome blinked, turned her head to look at the tree in question, and then looked back at Aya in shock. "But. . . that tree is in the opposite direction from the hut! How on earth did that happen?"  
  
Aya plucked nervously at a blade of grass. "I, unaccustomed to using a bow, was very nervous. Seiji started to cry, and the sudden noise. . ." she muttered, her words becoming inaudible.  
  
She noticed that Kagome was watching her in stunned silence.  
  
"All right!" Aya exclaimed as she leapt to her feet, her voice aggressively cheerful. "Back to work!"  
  
Kagome made a mental note never to let Aya use her bow. Then, she got up and dusted herself off for another sparring session. This time, when she called her power outward, it seemed to obey her with less protest. Kagome felt energized and ready for anything. When she looked down at her body, she stilled in surprise.  
  
Aya watched in amazement as a flood of violet light radiated strongly outward from its stunned epicenter.  
  
"I told you, it comes and goes. However, I've never seen anything like this!" Aya exclaimed in a hushed voice. This was a lot of power, and if Kagome could learn to control it. . .  
  
"Now that," Aya said in awe, "is what I would call 'greatness of soul.'"  
  
**********  
  
Pausing in her walk, Kikyou looked up at the moon as the sinuous bodies of her soul-stealers undulated lazily at her side, casting ghostly light over her path.  
  
She was wandering again.  
  
Once, she would have found the fall of moonlight through the trees beautiful. When she had been capable of such a feeling, she had loved watching the seasons paint the world in ever-changing colours. Now, the blaze of autumn and the bloom of spring seemed to be beyond her notice. Everything seemed leached of all life.  
  
Just, she thought hollowly, as she was.  
  
She had no purpose. She was a shrine-keeper without a shrine, and a woman with no home.  
  
A cold smile fleetingly touched her lips. Perhaps, she thought, she was not even a woman anymore. Instead, she was something inert and empty, waiting for its own destruction.  
  
She would never give life, for she had no life of her own to give.  
  
She was a creature in stasis.  
  
In her restless travels, she stopped in villages that had been brought low by war. Her acts of healing the afflicted were motivated by a less than humanitarian desire.  
  
She remembered the glow of satisfaction she had once felt, knowing that she had assuaged someone's pain.  
  
Since she had returned to this plane, that warm sensation seemed perpetually out of her reach. However, the promise of feeling it again never faded. Instead, it hovered, impossible to grasp no matter how hard she tried.  
  
Now, all was cold. Everything remained the same: cold, like the limbs that carried her through this world that did not want her anymore. She could not bear to leave it, however. She feared that she would be cast into a void even darker than the one she now inhabited.  
  
Lately, though, there were moments when this plane did not seem so stark. Lately, she felt flashes of something at the edges of her consciousness. Something full of colour and life bloomed where, before, there had been a terrible abyss.  
  
Her steps fell softly on the forest floor.  
  
They seemed to know their way, though she did not.  
  
Around her, the soul-stealers' white bodies writhed. They prepared themselves for the inevitable collection of the souls that sustained her.  
  
Kikyou looked up at the moon and suddenly stilled.  
  
Tonight, it was silver. The trees that stretched their branches above her seemed to gleam faintly in gradations of blue and gilt, like gleaming arms reaching to embrace the sky.  
  
She held out her hand, and the snakelike bodies calmed once more, waiting for her to command them.  
  
"No," she said softly, with an air of surprise that slowly changed to certainty.  
  
"No, not tonight."  
  
**********  
  
"Why tonight?" Sango asked no one in particular through gritted teeth. With a powerful swing, she sent Hiraikotsu flying towards the towering youkai the group was currently fighting.  
  
It had seemed like they would be able to have a relaxing evening. Then, the scorpion youkai they had been following had doubled back to take them on.  
  
According to rumors, it had a Shikon shard.  
  
For the past while, the group had been following many such rumors of the shards, and collecting what they could. It was slow work.  
  
Without Kagome, it was hard to track the youkai that possessed pieces of the Shikon. Also, the fights were longer and more grueling. Their opponents used the jewel shards to regenerate. Since none of the gang could spot where the shards were secreted, they had found that collecting them was a good deal more hazardous than it had been before.  
  
It hadn't been a piece of cake back then, either.  
  
Hiraikotsu spun through the air on its way back to Sango, who caught the huge weapon in her grip. She had chopped the scorpion's poisonous tail off at the base. It was already regenerating, but she had bought them some time. The taijiya winced at the strain as her weapon's momentum pulled hard at the muscles in her shoulder.  
  
She, Inuyasha, and Miroku had been getting quite the workout lately.  
  
Miroku rushed in, landing a hard blow to the creature's head. It let out a loud, screeching cry, and then all hell broke loose.  
  
"Why did this one have to be a mother?" the monk yelped. He ran back towards the others, trying to distance himself from the many small scorpions that scuttled off their parent's back in a gleaming black stream.  
  
He had not been using his kazaana as much lately, since they had no way of knowing where the shards were. In a way, it was a relief; repeated use of the air-void meant more risk for him. All the same, he wasn't too fond of being pushed aside by Inuyasha, or even worse, the lovely taijiya, because he couldn't use his secret weapon.  
  
Miroku eyed their opponents analytically. It would not do for him to suck a shard into his air void. However, the baby scorpions were probably safe, and due to mass alone, they would be the first to reach him. "Kazaana!" he cried, unbinding his hand. The overwhelming force of the air-void engulfed the youkai's offspring, before Miroku quickly wrapped the beads around his palm.  
  
The monk smiled faintly. He'd always had perfect timing, he thought to himself. Of course, he was conveniently forgetting all those tender moments with Sango that had come to a premature and violent end due to certain timing-related issues.  
  
"Oh no!" Shippou exclaimed from Kirara's back. The big cat snarled. "Now she's mad that Miroku sucked up her babies!"  
  
The scorpion youkai was rearing up onto its hind legs, letting out an ear- splitting scream of rage as it set off after the one who had destroyed its offspring.  
  
Inuyasha raised Tetsusaiga. "Miroku! Get out of the way!"  
  
Ah, a mother's love, Miroku thought absently as he ran for cover.  
  
Sango shook her head at the monk's nonchalant expression before she sent Hiraikotsu spinning towards the monster once more. Her massive weapon only glanced off its tough shell.  
  
"Where the hell is that shard?" Inuyasha wondered aloud as he prepared to unleash the power of Tetsusaiga.  
  
Shippou, who had been staring at the youkai, replied. "I see something on her head! Something shiny, right in the middle!"  
  
"Shippou, that's its third eye!" Inuyasha exclaimed, peeved.  
  
Then, a calm voice interrupted him.  
  
"The shard is in that eye."  
  
Shippou, Kirara, Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha turned as one to see who the speaker was.  
  
Kikyou stood at the edge of the woods, her frame illuminated in the pale glow of her soul-stealing youkai. Swiftly, she raised her bow.  
  
Another screech of fury resounded in the clearing as the scorpion once again demanded their attention. "I told you, Inuyasha! The shard is on her head!" Shippou squealed as the scorpion charged toward them and Kirara leapt into the air.  
  
Inuyasha rushed the monster, slashed it across the face with his claws, and wrenched the contested eye free of its oozing socket with a squelching sound. Then, he pulled the shard free.  
  
"Now die already," he barked. "I'm sick and tired of fighting you!"  
  
The youkai's regenerated tail swung frenziedly toward him, but Inuyasha dodged the jets of poison that left steaming craters in the ground. Retreating rapidly, he raised his sword.  
  
Before he could attack, a glowing arrow pierced the youkai's tough exoskeleton, burning it into dust before the group's stunned eyes.  
  
Once they were satisfied that the danger had passed, they turned to Kikyou again. She had lowered her bow to her side.  
  
"Kikyou," Inuyasha said quietly, as the rest of the group looked on in silence. "What are you doing here?"  
  
She looked slightly uncertain for a moment before her cool mask returned. "I believe I helped you," she answered calmly.  
  
Inuyasha watched her carefully, asking the question on all their minds. "Why?"  
  
Kikyou did not answer, turning instead to look into the distance. "There is another shard just north of here. It is moving quickly towards the east," she said tonelessly, after a long pause.  
  
Then, she and her soul-stealers disappeared back into the grove of trees from which she had emerged so suddenly, leaving Inuyasha and his friends to puzzle over what had just happened.  
  
**********  
  
To Kagome, the days that followed seemed to pass in a confusion of activity. She spent most of her waking hours either training with Aya, or recovering from her training with Aya. The woman took her promise to teach Kagome seriously, and devoted much of her energy to preparing her charge for the trials ahead, to Kagome's frequent chagrin.  
  
"Oof!" Kagome said as Aya landed a hard blow to her stomach that left her breathless. "Can't we let up a bit? We've been at this all day. I don't think there is a square inch of me that isn't bruised."  
  
In response, Aya merely picked up her kodachi, turning into a fast, strong spin-kick. Kagome leapt nimbly out of the way. Her movement had really improved, Aya observed. Kagome grasped her staff firmly, planted it in the earth, and heaved herself upwards to aim a kick towards Aya's head. She didn't connect, but Aya felt Kagome's foot whistle past, millimeters away from her face.  
  
"No, Kagome, we must not be lax," Aya replied, swiping her blade towards Kagome, who took her staff in both hands. The edge of Aya's short sword bit into the wood, despite the energy that Kagome had fed into her weapon. "I have become quite attached to you, and have no wish to see you killed."  
  
Kagome kept a sharp eye trained on Aya, who whirled and sent an elbow flashing towards her face, followed by one of her blades. Kagome dropped into a crouch, and swept her staff towards Aya's legs, rolling to the side before Aya blocked her and sent a foot flying towards her in another kick.  
  
It was true that Kagome's energy was now accessible to her. However, it was still difficult to control it, though her mental discipline had advanced by leaps and bounds.  
  
Suddenly, Kagome froze. If her senses were correct, some shards of Shikon were suddenly very close by. Aya quickly took advantage of her distraction. She lowered herself to the ground as well, quickly sweeping a leg towards Kagome's feet.  
  
That was why Sesshoumaru's and Rin's first glimpse of Kagome was of her with her face firmly planted in the dirt.  
  
Kagome hit the ground with a thud as the blow connected and knocked her legs out from under her. "Ouch!" she cried from her prone position. Aya sighed and shook her head at the familiar exclamation.  
  
In their absorption, neither of the women had seen the strange cloud that sped through the sky towards them.  
  
Kagome rolled to her back, unaware of Sesshoumaru's intent stare as he and Rin alighted. Then, she heard footsteps running towards her, and a small, familiar face blocked her view of the sky.  
  
"Kagome!" Rin cried, flinging herself onto Kagome while Aya watched in amusement. The older woman had not lent much credibility to the idea that the Western Lord had taken in a human child, but there was no doubt now that he had. The little girl was practically strangling Kagome, who was emitting breathless choking noises. Sesshoumaru watched expressionlessly from several feet away, seemingly unable to tear his gaze from her rather dusty protégé.  
  
"I will inform Kazuo that we have guests this evening," Aya stated. Having made her excuses, she repaired to the hut.  
  
"Hi Rin!" Kagome greeted in a muffled voice. "Did you just get here? It's good to see you!"  
  
Kagome winced and slowly disengaged from Rin's viselike embrace, pulling herself up to her feet with a pained grimace. She looked around her furtively, and smiled hesitantly when she saw Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Hello," she greeted, slowly flushing and wishing fervently that she didn't have to greet him with such a tomato-like reaction. Damn it, she thought. He looked perfect as usual, and she was bruised, sweaty, and. . . oh, gods, no!  
  
Kagome slowly reached up and brushed a clomp of soil from her cheek in mounting horror.  
  
Sesshoumaru did not respond to her greeting, but slowly approached the two girls.  
  
Embarrassed and a little irked, Kagome turned back to Rin. "How are you?" she asked the little girl.  
  
"There is so much to tell you," the child effused, wrapping her arms around Kagome's leg in her excitement. "Since you went away, I have been nice to Jaken. And now, Jaken has become so much fun! He's not boring like he used to be. But he did not come with us," Rin replied, sounding a little disappointed at that last bit of information.  
  
"Really? Jaken is fun?" Kagome asked, perplexed. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, he hides all the time. Then Rin finds him, and hugs him to say thank you. Sometimes he runs, and Rin chases him. It is important to hug Jaken," Rin stated with a nod of conviction. "He is old. Also," she added gravely, "he doesn't smell very good."  
  
Kagome's brow furrowed as she struggled to decrypt Rin's intensely non- linear brand of communication. Jaken was playing with Rin? Somehow, Kagome couldn't imagine the sour youkai doing anything of the sort. Then, her eyes widened.  
  
Oh, gods, she realized. She covered her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter. Rin had started to hug Jaken, and when he tried to flee, she thought he was trying to play.  
  
Kagome looked up towards Sesshoumaru, who met her eyes for one blistering moment, and then raised one brow slightly before looking up at nothing in particular.  
  
"I see," she replied, trying to hide her smile. "Uh, Rin. . ."  
  
Kagome meant to tell the little girl that Jaken might not be as happy to be hugged as Rin evidently thought he was. However, faced with Rin's happy expression, Kagome found that she couldn't break the news to her.  
  
"I'm sure that Jaken is, uh, very pleased," Kagome continued lamely.  
  
Sesshoumaru's eyebrow rose by a couple of degrees.  
  
Kagome made an attempt to calm her nerves. Now that she saw him again, she wasn't sure why she'd thought of him so much in the past month. Sure, he was attractive, but that wasn't everything. Even if the word 'attractive' seemed woefully inadequate to describe him, that alone was no big deal, right? He hadn't said two words to her since he'd gotten here. How incredibly rude.  
  
When they had said goodbye, he had seemed less like his cold, arrogant self. Since then, he had reverted to being completely unreadable. Was he trying to confuse her? Her anxiety over seeing him again was fading in the face of her growing irritation.  
  
Well, she thought to herself huffily. If he wasn't going to waste any time with pleasantries, then she wasn't going to either.  
  
Kagome berated herself for making out with someone so utterly lacking in sensitivity, as well as basic social skills.  
  
Kagome crossed her arms. "Is there any news?" she asked him calmly, trying to ignore the pull he seemed to exert on her. Maybe he wasn't a dog youkai after all, she mused grumpily. Was there such a thing as an electro-magnet youkai? That was the only logical explanation for her reaction to him.  
  
The gods only knew it wasn't his stellar personality.  
  
"Have you heard anything about Naraku, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kagome asked in saccharine tones.  
  
Narrowing his eyes, Sesshoumaru lowered his gaze back to her. She had given the honorific a rather pointed weight, making it sound decidedly less than respectful.  
  
This girl could ruin positively anything, he thought, disconcerted. He could not believe that he had been up nights thinking about this insolent human. What on earth was wrong with him? He couldn't seem keep himself from imprinting her image on his memory. Even covered in dirt, she somehow managed to look edible.  
  
"I have heard nothing about his activities," Sesshoumaru replied coldly. "I believe that he is most likely in hiding, or secretly trying to hunt the shards."  
  
Kagome nodded, deep in thought. "Hmmm," she murmured under her breath. "He will want to have more shards before he starts making a serious offense, I think."  
  
One of Sesshoumaru's eyebrows arched skyward. "It is also possible that he will act soon, if he knows you have been separated. You have no way of knowing how many shards he has collected. Perhaps, instead of hiding, he is preparing for an attack."  
  
The young woman before him shrugged as she absently threaded her fingers through Rin's hair. "Possibly." She looked down at Rin and smiled, before turning back to Sesshoumaru. "What about the others? Do you have any idea how they are doing?"  
  
As she spoke, she noticed that he had come a lot closer. She took an instinctive step back, but was brought up short by the weight of the child who was still firmly attached to her leg. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed slightly as he followed. Rin just looked up at the two of them in confusion. He noticed with satisfaction that Kagome's cheeks pinkened slightly as his proximity grew. Now that he was nearer, he could smell her nervousness, mixed with the scent that was uniquely her own. However, the anxiety was fading. She was annoyed with him, he realized to his surprise.  
  
"They are hunting the shards while you cannot," he replied.  
  
Her mouth fell open. "You didn't attack Inuyasha when you saw them, did you? Was anyone hurt?"  
  
"No," Sesshoumaru replied curtly.  
  
He was actually quite disgusted with himself now for not doing so. Why on earth hadn't he? It had been a perfect opportunity to be rid of his irksome half-brother, but he hadn't taken advantage of it.  
  
Kagome nodded and turned her smile on him, making him blink. "Thanks," she said quietly. "I appreciate that." She paused. "Oh, did you see Shippou? He's the little fox."  
  
Sesshoumaru nodded, remembering the defenseless young youkai who had sucked up the courage to ask him about Kagome.  
  
"Did he seem. . . all right?" Kagome asked hesitantly. "And Sango? The taijiya?" She hadn't seen her friend since Kohaku's death.  
  
"They seemed well," Sesshoumaru answered, "though I hardly asked after their health. The fox was very talkative. The taijiya was prepared to fight when she thought I lied about your safety. Of all of them, the monk seemed the most reasonable."  
  
Kagome sighed in relief. It sounded like they weren't too badly off without her. "Inuyasha tried to kill you, didn't he?" she asked dryly. Then, she looked at him in concern. "You weren't injured, were you?" Her words were anxious.  
  
Sesshoumaru found himself both irked that she thought the idiot could hurt him, and unsure of how to respond to this unprecedented concern for his well being, He wasn't sure what to say. "He did not even mark me," was the short response.  
  
"And you still didn't hurt anyone?" Kagome inquired incredulously.  
  
Sesshoumaru scowled. Did she have to keep going back to that? "The hanyou was stubborn, but he was not hurt." Kagome looked at him askance. "Much," he added.  
  
Kagome smiled and shook her head ruefully. "Not that I think you'd ask or anything, but how did he seem?"  
  
"Stupid," he replied curtly. "He rushed into a fight without thought, wielded Tetsusaiga as if he was chopping wood, and attacked with too much rage and no focus." Sesshoumaru continued in a dry tone, shrugging. "He is the same."  
  
Kagome smiled. "He is often like that, isn't he?" she mused.  
  
Oblivious to Sesshoumaru's sudden dark look, Kagome picked up the weapons scattered on the ground and looked to Rin. "Are you hungry?" she asked. The little girl nodded. Kagome straightened and glanced at Sesshoumaru. "Let's go join the others for dinner, then."  
  
**********  
  
The companionable atmosphere that characterized meals with the Hayashis was strained that evening.  
  
Though Rin was lively and talkative as always, her guardian seemed bent on intimidating everyone.  
  
The situation was only worsened by the fact that Sesshoumaru had declined to join in the meal. Instead, he preferred either watch everyone eat, or ignore them completely, all while maintaining a stony silence.  
  
Table manners improved by nearly 300%, Kagome noted.  
  
Only Rin and Kagome didn't seem bothered by Sesshoumaru's silent presence. Kagome asked Rin about her recent activities, and the little girl was only too happy to fill her in. Her constant stream of chatter was only interrupted when her mouth was too full to speak.  
  
Of course, Rin still tried.  
  
"Then, Jaken hid on the roof. He is awfully active for his age." Rin paused to awkwardly maneuver a clump of rice into her mouth, and immediately resumed her story. "Not 'at I noh ho owd 'e is or anyfig, but e's so wrinkly."  
  
Kagome looked at the young girl in concern. If she went on like this, she'd probably end up inhaling her food.  
  
"Rin."  
  
Every head in the room shot up as Sesshoumaru deigned to speak. "Do not talk with food in your mouth. You will choke."  
  
Kagome looked down at her own bowl and scowled. Ever since he'd arrived, she had been so painfully aware of him that she thought she'd burst out of her skin. She couldn't even glance in his direction without firmly suppressing the desire to stare at his mouth.  
  
It just wasn't fair that his presence seemed to demand her attention, when he couldn't even give her a simple greeting.  
  
Sesshoumaru looked at her narrowly.  
  
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin replied after she had carefully chewed her food and swallowed. She immediately continued to recount her hide and seek adventures to her rather befuddled audience, barely missing a beat. "Once, I found him under Ah-Un. He dug a hole in the ground and made Ah-Un sit on of it! He really knows how to make the game more challenging," Rin continued, her young voice filled with admiration. "That time, he was a lot harder to find."  
  
Gods, Kagome thought to herself with a smile. Jaken must really be desperate to avoid Rin, if he was willing to bury himself alive to do it.  
  
"I hugged him extra hard that time," Rin said with a satisfied nod, "but I think he is too old to hide in little holes. Afterwards, he just stood there with his mouth open for a long time."  
  
Kagome started to laugh, and looked towards Sesshoumaru, noticing that though he looked like his attention was elsewhere, he was smirking faintly.  
  
"He turned a bit greener, too," Rin added as an afterthought before digging back into her supper.  
  
Aya smiled to herself. The little girl the youkai had brought with him was utterly charming, and more verbose than she'd expected. The miko sent her husband a beaming look that he interpreted, correctly, as a comment on what fun a grandchild could be.  
  
All three Hayashis had been rather perplexed by their two visitors. Sesshoumaru's presence alone was disconcerting, but the fact that his ward was a small, very human chatterbox made the evening even more peculiar. However, they were all quite relieved that Rin was capable of carrying the burden of dinner conversation, all on her own.  
  
Aya sighed to herself, twirling her chopsticks absently. At least Seiji seemed very interested in paying another call to the weaver's stall, she thought with satisfaction. Then, she noticed with alarm that her son was looking at Kagome in a way that bordered upon puppy eyes. Even worse, his attention was not lost on Sesshoumaru, who did not look pleased at all. Not that he ever looked pleased, Aya corrected herself. He looked even less pleased than he usually did, meaning he was definitely negative on the pleasantness scale.  
  
She'd never have grandchildren if Seiji got himself killed. Aya wracked her brain.  
  
Truly, a mother's duty never ended.  
  
"Rin, your game reminds me of an episode from Seiji's childhood, when he tried to hide by the river," Aya interrupted with an evil gleam in her eye.  
  
Sesshoumaru looked at the miko woman, having noticed Seiji's reaction. Any story that could inspire that look of horror on the boy's face was one Sesshoumaru would not mind hearing. Even now, Seiji was searching wildly for an escape route.  
  
Kazuo sent a look heavenward and helped himself to seconds.  
  
Aya continued. "I can't remember exactly why he ran off like that-"  
  
"I can," Seiji supplied in an overly cheerful tone of voice. "You were cooking. I was smoked out of the hut." The young man turned wide gray eyes on their small guest in entreaty. "So, Rin, tell us more about this Jaken-"  
  
His hope of reprieve was snatched away as Aya's expression told him exactly what she thought of his comment. "Yes," she interrupted pointedly. "You were a sensitive boy." She shifted on the mat to better address her audience.  
  
Seiji buried his face in his hands and prayed for death. Maybe, he thought desperately, he could run away in the dead of night, and start a new life somewhere where his mother would never find him.  
  
"My innocent son had no way of knowing this, but at that time of day, the women of the village went to the river as a group to bathe and do their laundry. He was only ten, but was tall for his age. When they spotted him in the bushes, they assumed the worst, and started to scream very loudly."  
  
Seiji's colour had returned with a vengeance. Kagome looked at him with concern.  
  
"Thinking that a youkai was attacking, I went to the river as quickly as I could," Aya went on. "When I got there, I was stunned to see Seiji stripped to the skin, being held down by eight of the village grandmothers as they mocked various aspects of his anatomy," Aya finished delicately.  
  
Kagome sent Seiji a pitying look and patted his arm as she frowned at Aya. Really, that was just. . . completely insensitive. Then, she glared at Sesshoumaru, who appeared to be in serious danger of cracking a smile.  
  
Rin merely blinked in confusion. What were they mocking? And why did Sesshoumaru-sama appear to be so amused? She looked towards Kagome, lips parted to ask what Aya meant by "anatomy," when the older girl's eyes widened and she shook her head. Rin shrugged and shoveled some more rice into her mouth. She would just have to ask Sesshoumaru-sama about it later.  
  
Aya cast a measuring glance at the youkai, feeling a pang for embarrassing Seiji. However, after this story, she hoped their visitor would not see Seiji as any threat to whatever claim he thought he had.  
  
Satisfied that she had put her son out of harm's way for the duration of Sesshoumaru's stay, Aya smiled and handed the young man a cup of tea. "After giving those women a tongue-lashing, and helping Seiji fish his clothing out of the river, we came home and had a nice dinner."  
  
Kazuo stopped chewing.  
  
After a shocked silence, Seiji exploded. "A nice dinner?!?" he exclaimed incredulously. "You almost killed me! I vomited for hours, and I didn't even eat most of it! I threw most of my bowl out the window while you weren't looking!"  
  
Aya offered him a cup of tea. "Well, well, young man," she said with a disgruntled look. "After a long day of killing, I came home and slaved over the cook-fire to make you dinner, and you wasted it? You should be ashamed!"  
  
"But. . . I almost. . . the healer said. . ." Seiji sputtered, finally lapsing into speechlessness. He took a deep breath. "Oh, forget it," he sighed, slowly draining his tea in an unconscious reflection of his father's zen-like calm.  
  
Aya merely smiled serenely - an expression that looked distinctly odd on her face - and refilled Seiji's teacup.  
  
Kagome was trying to come up with a way to change the subject, when a bell rang in the next room. She quickly got to her feet and left the room. Aya followed suit, gathering her weapons as well as Kagome's staff before following her.  
  
"It's one of the noise traps in the northeastern section of the woods," Kagome informed Aya when she joined her.  
  
Aya sighed. "Why do they always have to come right after dinner?" she grumbled. "My meal never has a chance to settle."  
  
Kagome smiled. "I can go alone," she offered. "It's probably something I can handle by myself."  
  
Aya shook her head. "It may not be. Just in case, I should accompany you."  
  
"I will go." The two women turned to see that Sesshoumaru had followed, obviously having heard their discussion. Aya sent Kagome an inquiring look.  
  
The young woman shrugged. "Fine," she replied. Kagome imagined leaving Sesshoumaru alone with Seiji and Kazuo, and shuddered. She picked up her staff. "Let's go," she called over her shoulder as she left the hut.  
  
Aya watched the departing pair for a moment. Kagome was charging forward with determination as the youkai walked calmly after her.  
  
He'd only just arrived, and Kagome was already angry with him?  
  
Shaking her head slightly, Aya turned to rejoin the others.  
  
She would never understand this younger generation.  
  
**********  
  
They walked through the woods in silence, Kagome's training becoming evident to Sesshoumaru's watchful eye.  
  
The last time they had covered this ground, she had been slow. She had also been so loud that he thought she had broken every twig in the vicinity. Now, she moved as swiftly and quietly as a shadow. The lines of her body were braced and alert.  
  
And annoyed, he noted with amused curiosity. Her irritation was obvious. She avoided looking at him, opting instead to ignore him completely.  
  
Kagome was, at that moment, fully occupied with an ongoing internal debate.  
  
Rational Kagome was telling her to get over her snit, complete her patrol, and stop fixating on emotionally unavailable, socially inept men who had tried to kill her in the past. Though Irrational Kagome had to concede that these were all valid points, she was still affronted that he hadn't bothered to say hello to her. She was also trying to sneak peeks at him out of the corner of her eye.  
  
Rational Kagome's position was greatly undermined by the fact that some kind of weird radar had kicked in, broadcasting where Sesshoumaru was at all times, along with detailed information regarding the logistics of jumping on him at any given moment.  
  
Scowling, she walked faster, scanning the area. She was in dire need of an ass to kick.  
  
Sesshoumaru watched with interest as Kagome's eyes gleamed, her pace quickening with new purpose. She appeared to be on the hunt, he realized, as his blood quickened in response. It seemed that this girl always managed to surprise him.  
  
"Why on earth did you want to come along?" she asked, obviously piqued. "Isn't this patrolling business a little beneath you?"  
  
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "You would prefer to be alone and risk meeting an enemy stronger than you? How childish," he commented in a cool voice.  
  
Kagome halted and turned to him with her hands on her hips. Then, she noticed the smug light in his eyes, remembered that he seemed to take a perverse pleasure in arguing with her, and started walking again.  
  
"That's right," she muttered. "I'm not talking to you. I almost forgot."  
  
Behind her back, Sesshoumaru smirked.  
  
"You missed me," he prodded in a low voice.  
  
Kagome stiffened slightly, but continued walking.  
  
"I told you," she said evenly in the iciest tone she could manage. "I'm not speaking to you."  
  
"You are quite talkative for one who is not talking," Sesshoumaru countered.  
  
The girl next to him twitched and then gave up, rounding on him with a glare.  
  
"And you're awfully talkative for someone who can't even say hello like a civilized person!" she retorted angrily. "You just live to annoy me, don't you?!"  
  
Sesshoumaru folded his arms regally. "No," he replied, "though it is quite rewarding on occasion."  
  
Before Kagome had a chance to process that comment, he pointed over her shoulder. "I believe we have found the intruder," he remarked casually.  
  
She whirled to see a small but vicious-looking youkai approaching them through the trees. Its sickly yellow eyes above grotesquely protruding jaws.  
  
The half-eaten human leg it carried in its spindly hands didn't make it any more attractive, Kagome observed with a squirm.  
  
Slime dripped to the ground from its gleaming, needle-like teeth. Transfixed by the utter repulsiveness of her opponent, Kagome was rather taken aback when it spoke.  
  
"Are you the miko I have heard of?" it asked sibilantly.  
  
"No," Kagome replied in a revolted tone. "She's actually just finished dinner."  
  
Sesshoumaru's brows lifted slightly in disbelief.  
  
Evidently, the gnarled creature was similarly unimpressed. Instead of pursuing the topic of Aya's dining habits, it clambered towards Kagome with assessing eyes. Discomfited, she raised her staff into a defensive position.  
  
"Your flesh looks tasty, skinny human," it hissed, pointing the chewed-up leg towards her. She recoiled. "I thought to find food in the village, but you will do nicely for now."  
  
She stared at the hunched figure in horror. "But. . ." she sputtered, "but you just ate!" She gestured towards its gruesome leftovers incredulously.  
  
Sesshoumaru looked heavenward. He found Inuyasha's penchant for yelling and posturing unbearable, but Kagome's pre-battle pleasantries almost made him miss it.  
  
The slouched monster seemed insulted at her intimation regarding its gustatory habits. He snarled and charged at her, ending the exchange, much to Sesshoumaru's relief.  
  
Then, the taiyoukai stepped back and watched with interest as Kagome suddenly glowed with bright violet light and attacked.  
  
The slime-monster emitted a shriek of rage, and flung its leftovers at her, scuttling aside to narrowly avoid the blow that Kagome aimed at its neck.  
  
Sesshoumaru tensed slightly. The creature was faster than it looked, and appeared to be preparing to launch itself at Kagome.  
  
Wrinkling her nose, Kagome knocked the gory projectile aside. Then, she paused, glowed brighter for a moment, and then threw her staff towards the creature like a javelin. It cried out shrilly as her weapon speared through its torso, staking it to the ground. Its many legs spasmed uselessly around it, and then slowed to stillness.  
  
Kagome dusted her hands off with an air of satisfaction. "Pig," she announced indignantly. Gods, she wondered, looking at its shriveling body. Where did that thing put it all?  
  
As though in response to her thoughts, a final jet of slime chose that moment to spew from the dying youkai. Kagome ducked nimbly, but was not able to avoid all of it. She made a face as she felt some of the slime hit her pant-leg, seeping through the material.  
  
She quickly recovered into a ready stance, eyeing the mess on the ground with a grimace. The nasty little beast's corpse was rapidly degenerating into a pile of slime, as it's spindly legs gave a last futile twitch.  
  
She was much faster and stronger than Sesshoumaru had thought. Of course, he thought, there was that one problem. . .  
  
"Yuck. So where were we?" Kagome asked as she straightened.  
  
Sesshoumaru merely looked at her askance. "That was not as terrible as I had anticipated," he observed dispassionately from his vantage point.  
  
"What?" Kagome whirled to glare at him. "What did I do wrong? I got him, didn't I?"  
  
Sesshoumaru merely looked at her with an air of disbelief before gesturing towards her calf. "You should clean that off," he commented in an offhand manner. "And never cast your weapon away. If your aim had been off, you would have been disarmed and in need of assistance, which is best avoided if you have any alternative."  
  
Kagome scowled, pausing as she mopped the slime from her pants with a handful of leaves. "You know, just because you're a big loner doesn't mean everyone else should be," she grumbled in reply. "Gods. You and Inuyasha. You both think you can take care of everything on your own. I don't think there's anything wrong with asking for help," she continued, dropping the slime-saturated leaves to the forest floor.  
  
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed slightly at the insulting comparison, and Kagome could have sworn that she'd seen an angry look pass over his face. "When you require the help of others, you also must suffer for their weaknesses," he said tonelessly. "At best, they are unreliable. At worst, you pay for their incompetence. It is better to become strong, and fight alone with what strength you have."  
  
Kagome looked at her companion with shrewd eyes.  
  
That was the way he lived, after all, she realized. Jaken and Rin just seemed to follow him around. Though she supposed he had some connection to them, neither of them were what she would call a friend to him. Jaken seemed eager to help, but in light of Sesshoumaru's strength, any assistance the retainer offered would not be of much use if Sesshoumaru was truly in trouble.  
  
"I see," she murmured thoughtfully.  
  
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "What?" he asked flatly. He wasn't sure he liked the sympathetic look in her brown eyes.  
  
Kagome scrambled mentally under his stare. "Uh. . . I'll be more careful in future?" she replied hopefully.  
  
He looked unconvinced, but didn't probe any further. "Your speed and strength are much improved," he commented. "You also seemed able to read your opponent's movements."  
  
She couldn't prevent a pleased smile from crossing her face. "Thanks," she replied happily.  
  
It was strange, she thought to herself, but his approval, no matter how grudging, made her feel a little giddy.  
  
Kagome's eyes rounded as the lightheaded feeling was immediately followed by tingling. A strange numb sensation overtook her, and she realized with alarm that her legs had ceased to obey her.  
  
Sesshoumaru watched calmly as Kagome collapsed face-first to the ground at his feet.  
  
"Hmmm," he remarked as he crouched at her side. "I suppose you should have removed the creature's saliva with more haste." He rolled Kagome to her back, revealing her rather angry expression.  
  
She blew leaves out of her mouth, and scowled. "You knew that this would happen?" she asked slowly as her eyes narrowed. "You are such a jerk! Why didn't you say anything?"  
  
He blithely ignored the aspersions she cast on his character.  
  
"The saliva of that creature is meant to paralyze its prey for ease of consumption," he informed her with a shrug. "The effects are temporary, and negligible for most youkai. How was I to know you would be so susceptible to it?" he asked calmly. "Or," he added, "that it would be so amusing?"  
  
Sesshoumaru paused as Kagome let loose with a string of invective, most of which he did not understand. It really was too bad, he reflected, that the paralysis did not extend to her speech organs.  
  
He winced as her voice hit a particularly high note. He had to acknowledge that the girl was extraordinary. Even in such a helpless state, her temper was unmitigated by any sense of self-preservation.  
  
And, he wondered absently, what on earth was a "dickwad?"  
  
Judging by what he could understand of her string of epithets, he was sure it was most likely unflattering.  
  
Kagome's tirade trailed off as she watched the most annoying youkai she'd ever met get to his feet, find a shady tree, and seat himself beneath it with stately grace, giving her a bored look that was belied by the sly light in his eyes.  
  
Ooooh, she seethed.  
  
He was laughing on the inside. She could just tell.  
  
To make matters worse, he looked like he'd be perfectly happy to sit there all night.  
  
Kagome gritted her teeth. Wasn't he going to help her? She watched with equal parts fascination and incredulity as Sesshoumaru positively reclined under the leafy boughs. He looked up at the emerging stars as the evening breeze lifted wisps of his silver hair, creating a tableau that was striking and, from Kagome's perspective, completely infuriating.  
  
Her jaw clenched painfully. Belatedly, she recalled that she wasn't talking to him. She most definitely was not going to ask Mr. Deep-Conditioning Treatment for help.  
  
Even though, she noted with mounting dread, the entire left side of her body had lost sensation.  
  
Sesshoumaru smiled inwardly. Kagome seemed bent on waiting him out, even though he could hear her huffing in outrage every few seconds. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the small heap on the ground alternately glaring at him and peering at him in consternation.  
  
From her very limited vantage point, Kagome fumed. This had to be the dumbest standoff she'd ever been a part of. That said a lot, after hanging out with Inuyasha for so long. As much as she wanted to be the bigger person here, she didn't want to be the one to give in. It seemed that she was always at a disadvantage where Sesshoumaru was concerned.  
  
However, something that had been bothering her since his appearance was now getting the better of her. She just had to know.  
  
"I've been meaning to ask you. Were you planning to keep those shards you're carrying?"  
  
Sesshoumaru blinked. "No," he replied simply.  
  
Kagome tried to move into a better position for conversation. She succeeded only in flopping awkwardly onto her side.  
  
"I will leave them with you," he elaborated, still looking up at the night sky.  
  
"Fanks," Kagome mumbled into the dirt. She grimaced. In this position, the slime-covered leaves she had discarded earlier were only inches from her face. Enough was enough. "Um, do you think you could give me a hand here?"  
  
Sesshoumaru turned to her with a mirthful light in his eyes. "I thought you were not speaking to me," he commented dryly.  
  
Damn him and his enhanced youkai memory! Kagome twitched uncomfortably under his amused stare.  
  
"You may not have noticed, but I'm not very good at giving the silent treatment," she said grudgingly. She looked away. "So I think I'll just abandon that plan."  
  
Still seated, Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "Indeed, I have noticed that you have difficulty remaining silent."  
  
Kagome scowled. "Argh!" she exclaimed, in pure frustration. "Please, please help me, Sesshoumaru-SAMA," she said in the least sincere voice she was capable of producing. "I'll be your best friend."  
  
Sesshoumaru looked vaguely alarmed at what he perceived as a threat, but rose to his feet and approached her.  
  
"Fine," he murmured as he hoisted her to her feet. "I have no desire to remain here any longer." Kagome grabbed his shoulder with her one functioning hand, trying to balance herself on her feet. It wasn't working very well, she noted with a frown.  
  
"Can you stand?" he asked, his warm breath ruffling her hair.  
  
"Kagome marveled at the fact that, even when her body was almost completely numb, the knowledge that his hands gripped her waist made her feel all weird inside. Finally registering that he'd asked a question, she blinked and nodded slightly without thinking.  
  
Sesshoumaru released her. She yelped as she became suddenly and violently reacquainted with the ground at his feet.  
  
"I'm really glad I couldn't feel that," Kagome exclaimed whilst staring at his shoe. Sesshoumaru released a beleaguered sigh as he picked her back up, slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Kagome sneezed as she was greeted with a faceful of fur.  
  
Sesshoumaru shook his head slightly as he bent to retrieve her staff. Then, he adjusted his hold on her so that his arms supported her thighs and back, and her head was pillowed on the fur at his shoulder.  
  
"You are indeed troublesome," he observed. "I do not know how you will defeat Naraku when you seem to experience such difficulty remaining upright."  
  
Kagome grunted indelicately. "Just shut up and fly, mister," she mumbled. She snuggled into the soft pelt and yawned, oblivious to Sesshoumaru's frown.  
  
The girl couldn't even fight without needing a nap afterwards. Sesshoumaru looked down at her sleepy face in exasperation as they rose into the air. He exhaled, trying to ignore her scent, and the warm weight of her body in his arms. For the umpteenth time, he wondered what the hell was wrong with him.  
  
Seemingly aware of his perusal, Kagome opened her eyes a crack and smiled. "I did kinda miss you, you know," she offered.  
  
Sesshoumaru did not reply. The girl was completely incomprehensible. Her dismal failure at remaining silent was equaled only by her inability to hold a grudge, he observed.  
  
"Only a little, mind you," she added when he did not respond to her olive branch.  
  
Kagome scowled as the silence lengthened. "Maybe I didn't miss you at all, actually," she went on with a sniff. "I forgot how annoying you were."  
  
Sesshoumaru looked down, obviously skeptical.  
  
"Because you're really, really annoying. You could win awards," Kagome went on, peering intently at where his hand rested on her arm. She noted with surprise that he had those intriguing stripes on his wrist, as well. She wondered absently if he had them anywhere else, but was able to debark that train of thought before she could embarrass herself by turning red again.  
  
The youkai sighed inwardly. She was, in actual fact, completely incapable of keeping her mouth shut. The young woman in his arms parted her lips to speak again, no doubt to babble further in her unbearable fashion, Sesshoumaru thought wryly.  
  
Really, there was no alternative.  
  
Kagome was about to expound further on all the ways in which she had not, in any way, shape or form, missed him, when the arms supporting her raised her face to his eye level. She felt a puff of breath against her cheek before his warm mouth descended on hers firmly, teasingly lifting before she had a chance to register what was happening. She blinked in confusion, gaping like a fish.  
  
"Hello, Kagome," Sesshoumaru drawled in a particularly obnoxious manner. Keeping her off-balance was extremely enjoyable, he thought, savoring her look of stunned amazement.  
  
Kagome's eyes narrowed as he touched the tip of his tongue to his lower lip. That look on his face was almost. . . why, it was most definitely a smirk. She sniffed.  
  
The arrogant bastard was laughing on the inside again.  
  
He really could ruin almost anything, she thought, aghast.  
  
If she could have moved, she would have hit him, she thought to herself. But, since she couldn't, she had to settle for smiling irrepressibly instead.  
  
Rational Kagome groaned, threw her hands up in disgust, and packed her bags for a brief sabbatical.  
  
***********  
  
"Kagome."  
  
The young miko buried her face more deeply in her furry pillow, and would have tried to hide her head beneath it if her arm weren't so strangely heavy.  
  
"Go 'way," she mumbled.  
  
"Kagome." The low, quiet voice intruded once more, and was accompanied by a slight shift of her pillow. Her fingers weakly gripped the fuzzy cushion beneath her cheek.  
  
Her brows drew together slightly. A low voice? Wasn't someone supposed to be shrieking and beating a pot with a spoon right about now?  
  
"Mmmmrph." She was not going to move. She was warm, comfortable, and very pleased that the loud clanging noise was blissfully, if inexplicably, absent. "Seiji?" she inquired fuzzily.  
  
"Wake up, wench." The voice grew louder, and sounded remarkably displeased. Kagome pressed her cheek more firmly into her strangely furry pillow, and sniffed. It smelled kind of different, she noted with a small frown. Not a bad smell, but like green things, trees and sun. Her fingers curled more firmly into the deep nap beneath her head.  
  
Maybe if she ignored the voice, angry Seiji would go away. She frowned again. Seiji, the embodiment of the term 'mild-mannered,' was angry?  
  
And he was calling her a wench? She muttered his name again, with a perplexed frown.  
  
Little puzzle pieces slowly slotted themselves together in Kagome's sleep- fogged mind. Just as the mental picture of a really aggravating inuyoukai was about to form, she was forcefully removed from her pillow. She barely had time to make her displeasure known, when a pair of warm hands grasped her left knee, and then plunged her foot cruelly into ice-cold water.  
  
"GYAAAAAAH!"  
  
Sensation appeared to have returned to Kagome's leg, Sesshoumaru observed. He winced at the sheer volume of her enraged bellow. She still wasn't able to move properly, but that didn't seem to prevent her from flopping about as wildly as a landed fish, he noted sourly as he locked his arm more firmly around her waist.  
  
Brown eyes, now wide and alert, glared up at him in reproach.  
  
Golden ones glared right back, unmoved.  
  
She'd been murmuring that human boy's name while half-asleep. He knew he shouldn't have left her with that lecherous whelp, Sesshoumaru thought suspiciously.  
  
"Damn it, Sesshoumaru," Kagome gasped through her chattering teeth. She looked down to see that her leg, pants and all, was immersed calf-deep in a wooden bucket of water. "What did you do that for?!"  
  
She was in his lap, she realized. Kagome tried to move, but found that her limbs still felt extremely heavy.  
  
Also, the band of warm steel that was apparently wrapped around her midsection was hardly helping.  
  
Sesshoumaru coolly watched her abortive attempts to extricate herself. "You refused to wake, and your leg must be washed," he informed her flatly. His arm tightened its hold.  
  
Kagome blinked in confusion. Why was Sesshoumaru being so pissy? Who was he glaring at over her head?  
  
She turned to find that the object of his wrath was a very flustered Seiji, who appeared to be retreating sideways from the room. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and turned back to Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Stop it," she ordered. "I don't know what's bothering you, but I have one foot in a bucket of cold water, and I can't move. I am really not in the mood for this," she mumbled grumpily. "Leave him alone."  
  
Sesshoumaru ignored her completely, continuing to vivisect Seiji with his eyes alone. The constriction on Kagome's waist intensified to corset-like levels. Kagome, turning slightly purple, succeeded in smacking him weakly on the shoulder in a demand for oxygen.  
  
Much to the Seiji's relief, Rin soon joined them with Aya and Kazuo in tow. Apparently, they had all heard the dulcet sounds of Kagome's awakening, and returned, bearing a pan of heated water. Rin, seeing that her friend had revived, ran towards her with a washcloth in hand, and sat down next to Sesshoumaru and Kagome.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked Kagome anxiously, with eyes as wide as saucers. "Of course you must be all right, because you were with Sesshoumaru-sama and he is very strong," she continued matter-of-factly. "Still, your leg was very slimy." Rin's small nose wrinkled at the thought. "You were mumbling, so I was worried. But then I remembered that you used to mumble in your sleep before, so you are probably fine. Right?"  
  
Aya shook her head slightly at Rin's monologue as she knelt next to the little girl, tipping the warm water into the bucket.  
  
Kagome sighed in gratitude and relief as the frigid temperature slowly became lukewarm.  
  
"I'm fine, Rin," Kagome said, once her teeth had ceased their chattering. "After the slime wears off, I'll be as good as new. Right?" The young woman looked up at Sesshoumaru for confirmation, and found that he was still staring at Seiji, who did not look at all happy at the attention and seemed to be trying to slouch out of the taiyoukai's line of sight. "Right?" Kagome repeated pointedly. Sesshoumaru merely nodded.  
  
Much to the young man's dismay, Kazuo got up, ostensibly to brew some tea, once more leaving Sesshoumaru's predatory glowering unobstructed.  
  
Meanwhile, Aya looked at Kagome. "Have I taught you nothing?" the older miko asked, capturing Sesshoumaru's attention.  
  
Kagome's head shot up. "What?" she asked.  
  
Aya sighed gustily. "What have I told you about poisons?"  
  
Oh, damn it, Kagome grumbled inwardly. She knew she'd forgotten something. Slowly, she felt a blush creep over her cheeks and down her neck. Being around Sesshoumaru obviously made her stupid. . .  
  
"Right." Aya confirmed. "What should you do if, for instance, you are hit by a gob of mysterious slime?"  
  
Kagome stared into the steaming depths of her teacup, abashed. "I should create a purifying barrier over my skin," she replied in a small voice. Her face burned impossibly hotter. When she looked up, she saw that Sesshoumaru was watching her. She quickly looked back at her cup, feeling strangely miserable at the thought that he probably found her incompetent.  
  
"I forgot?" she grumbled to no one in particular. Rin patted Kagome's arm reassuringly.  
  
Kazuo had been about to offer his son a cup of tea, but suddenly realized that Seiji was nowhere to be seen. The older man almost jumped when an arm extended from behind him, taking the cup from his hand. For some unfathomable reason, Seiji was hiding behind him. Kazuo merely shrugged.  
  
"Well, I doubt you'll forget again." Aya grinned.  
  
Kagome nodded sheepishly, subdued.  
  
"Oh, cheer up," Aya continued good-naturedly. "At least you weren't alone. It would have been so much more embarrassing if I had to go and find you, and" the woman said cheekily, "you would have had weapons-duty for a month at least."  
  
Kagome laughed. "I probably would have. You'd use any excuse to get out of work," she replied, still flustered.  
  
Aya yawned. "Well," she concluded. "It's late." She turned to look at Sesshoumaru, who had been silent since his and Kagome's return. "Will you and Rin be staying for the night?"  
  
Sesshoumaru looked towards Rin, whose eyes had gone round and pleading, and nodded to Aya. "We will leave in the morning."  
  
Kagome laughed, finding herself the recipient of yet another one of Rin's crushing hugs.  
  
"All right, then," Aya replied, her forehead wrinkling in thought as she pondered the accommodations. "We do not have much here, but-"  
  
"I do not need anything," Sesshoumaru interrupted.  
  
"Rin can share with me," Kagome added. She looked down at the little girl affectionately. The day's travels had obviously made her sleepy.  
  
Aya smiled, hiding her relief. If Rin stayed with Kagome, there was little chance of anything untoward happening. "Well then, that is taken care of." She and Kazuo got to their feet and bid everyone goodnight.  
  
Seiji did the same. He had come to the conclusion that, though the weaver's daughter was not quite as fascinating as Kagome was, courting her would probably be healthier in the long run.  
  
**********  
  
A light snore roused Kagome from her sleep. When her eyes adjusted to the dark, she turned to see Rin's sleeping face turned towards her on the futon. The young girl shifted slightly and emitted another faint snuffling sound, her small hands clutching the top of Kagome's sleeping bag to her tiny chin.  
  
Kagome smiled touched the child's forehead lightly. After they had retired to her room, Rin seemed to gain a second wind. She had attempted to give Kagome a thorough update on everything that had gone on at the fortress in her absence. It was obvious that the child's world revolved around Sesshoumaru, with Jaken coming in at a distant second. Rin adored the inuyoukai so much that it was weird, considering how cold he seemed most of the time. However, it could not be denied that he felt some measure of affection for Rin. Kagome bit back a chuckle as she remembered how the little girl had mopped her runny nose on Sesshoumaru's pelt.  
  
Kagome turned to her side in the darkness. Because she'd had a catnap earlier, she found it difficult to go back to sleep. She watched Rin intently, hoping that she would wake up so there could be someone to talk to for a while, but the child was dead to the world. Even when Kagome nudged her with her knee - unintentionally, of course - Rin merely snuffled again before resuming her deep, even breaths.  
  
Kagome coughed loudly - again, unintentionally - and looked towards the little girl again, only to be greeted by a similar lack of response. The young woman turned onto her back, blinking at the ceiling. Maybe Seiji would still be up, she thought to herself. He did keep rather strange hours sometimes, and was always fun to have late-night chats with.  
  
However, she was quite sure that he would be hiding in his room after Sesshoumaru's earlier display, even if he was still awake.  
  
Kagome shifted uncomfortably, kicking the covers off her pajama-clad legs. Now that she'd regained full control of her muscles again, she felt kind of antsy.  
  
With a grumble of frustration, she gave up and rose from the futon, careful not to disturb Rin, who continued to snore obliviously.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome peered nervously around the front room before noting that it was empty and relaxing with relief. She hadn't really given it much thought, but it was possible that Sesshoumaru was sleeping in the common area. She was a little disappointed that he wasn't in there, but it was best for all involved if she didn't see him before morning, she told herself sternly. It never seemed to end well. Though, Kagome reflected almost wistfully, talking to him did tend to keep her on her toes.  
  
He had probably gone out. After all, Inuyasha had never really seemed to sleep much, and Sesshoumaru was a full-blooded youkai.  
  
With a shrug, she padded across the mats that covered the floor of the darkened room, slipping out the door as quietly as possible. Rubbing her arms against the cool night air, and looked up at the sky as she walked out onto the grassy area in front of the hut. The moon was a bright crescent, shining through the trees. Crouching, Kagome patted the grass to make sure it was dry, and then lay down on it to watch the stars.  
  
"What happened to your feet?"  
  
Kagome yelped at the sudden voice from behind her, and sat up so quickly that her vision swam. She looked behind her to see that Sesshoumaru had been sitting against the outer wall of the hut, the pelt and armor in a neat pile beside him.  
  
"Sorry for disturbing you," Kagome apologized shakily, a hand pressed to her chest. "I was trying to be quiet. You almost scared me to death!" Once her pulse showed signs of returning to normal, she flopped back onto the grass, determined to leave him alone.  
  
"What are those things on your feet?" Sesshoumaru repeated, unperturbed.  
  
Kagome stuck one foot in the air and wiggled it around, causing pink bunny- ears to flop crazily about. "This is a slipper," she explained. She felt rather than heard him approach and sit down next to her.  
  
"Those are the most ridiculous things I have ever seen," Sesshoumaru remarked dryly, after a moment's inspection.  
  
"Hey," Kagome countered. "I'm not the one who wears a big fuzzy thing around all the time."  
  
Sesshoumaru glared. "It is an heirloom pelt," he replied, "and its colour is not nearly as objectionable."  
  
Kagome smiled. "These are the family bunny slippers, passed through the ages to the eldest child," she intoned importantly. "Only the strongest of the Higurashis may wear them." She peeked up at him out of the corner of her eye. Sesshoumaru was looking at her as though she were a lunatic. She shrugged.  
  
"They're comfy. My little brother gave them to me for my last birthday." Kagome paused in thought. "This year, I didn't get to go back," she said quietly. "I wonder if they got a cake. Souta is a total pig for cake."  
  
Sesshoumaru looked inquiringly at the girl who was sprawled comfortably on the ground beside him. She seemed to spend much of her time on the ground, he thought sardonically.  
  
Kagome blinked up at him. "Never mind," she said quickly. "Where's Jaken?"  
  
Sesshoumaru leaned back slightly on his hands. "I left him behind. Someone had to remain in case a message arrived regarding a border dispute."  
  
To her surprise, though nothing in his expression changed, Kagome could somehow tell that he was amused. She sat up again, turning to her companion with a measuring look. "Was it important that he stay, or did he just really need a break from Rin?" she asked shrewdly.  
  
He was definitely amused, she confirmed. Even though his face seemed as stony as ever, his amber eyes had gone all twinkly. She was learning how to read him, Kagome thought in shock. Well, if one considered the fact that he was almost constantly laughing at her, it seemed logical that she would learn to detect amusement, Kagome thought ruefully.  
  
"It was not an important matter," Sesshoumaru replied. "He looked tired, and greener than usual. It seemed best that he remain behind."  
  
Kagome grinned at him. "I see," she said cryptically. "You know, for someone who's threatened Jaken with death on numerous occasions, you're being awfully considerate of his mental health."  
  
Sesshoumaru blinked slowly. "You, too, have experienced Rin's viselike embrace," he observed, "and Jaken is rather advanced in age." He flicked a dried blade of grass from his sleeve as Kagome bit back a laugh. "Besides, loyal servants are rare."  
  
Kagome looked thoughtful, and neither said anything for a while. Sesshoumaru was almost impressed at her unprecedented silence, when she broke it.  
  
"Don't you ever get tired of doing everything alone?" she blurted out, seemingly unable to prevent herself.  
  
Sesshoumaru remained silent for a moment. "It is important to be self- contained," he replied evenly.  
  
Kagome's forehead creased in thought, as her curiosity rapidly outstripped her tact. "I don't know about that," she began cautiously. "Why do you think Inuyasha can beat you? I think you're probably stronger, but when you fight, he always wins. It's kind of weird, don't you think?"  
  
When Sesshoumaru replied, his voice was cold. "I would hardly say that he always wins."  
  
"Fine," Kagome said to humor him. Damned youkai egos. "He sometimes wins. But, for example, that time you flew off minus an arm. Didn't you find it kind of strange that he beat you?"  
  
Sesshoumaru glared at her. "Perhaps," he stated noncommittally. "Though," he added with a faint smile in his voice, "the last time we fought, he did not do very well."  
  
"I know why he beat you," Kagome commented.  
  
Sesshoumaru started emitting almost palpable waves of irritation. "Why is that?" he asked curtly.  
  
Kagome continued, her voice calm. "Inuyasha always protects people and, in case you haven't noticed, is emotionally invested in every fight he has." She shrugged. "That's why he always does it when it counts." Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru. He'd become inscrutable again, but at least he wasn't mad, she thought with relief. "What do you fight for?" she asked, overcome with curiosity. "I mean, besides that sword, which you can't use anyway." Kagome balked at the look he sent her. "Not that I'm judging!" she added.  
  
After a brief silence, Sesshoumaru replied, "The lands that my father left to me. The dignity of our line, that I alone raised from disgrace."  
  
Kagome twirled a blade of grass thoughtfully in her fingers. "Well, what do you get out of it?"  
  
Sesshoumaru paused to look at her as though she were being deliberately obtuse. "Is it not obvious?"  
  
"Uh, never mind," Kagome backpedaled, deciding to leave the topic alone. "Dignity. Family pride. Gotcha."  
  
Sesshoumaru's looked at her, exasperated. "And you are fighting to reassemble a mystical jewel," he commented, his skepticism evident in every syllable.  
  
Kagome smiled weakly. "That's not just for some personal satisfaction, or power." she briefly lapsed into silence.  
  
"I know," Sesshoumaru replied.  
  
Kagome nodded. "Because of that stupid jewel, Naraku could be even worse than he is now, and he wants to kill us all. Plus, it's my fault that it returned to this era. And I broke it." Kagome paused, embarrassed. "Twice."  
  
Sesshoumaru watched her intently as she sat up, clasped her hands in her lap, and stared at them, unseeing. "So, I guess it's like cleaning up my mess, with the side benefit of staying alive. When I'm done, I'll either take that damned thing back to my time, or see it destroyed and go home."  
  
"Your honor demands it," Sesshoumaru stated simply.  
  
Kagome blinked. "Yeah, I guess. Dignity and pride," she announced firmly. "I can't let the monster destroy Tokyo."  
  
Sesshoumaru blinked.  
  
"Sorry, pop-culture reference," Kagome sighed, waving her hand airily.  
  
Suddenly, Kagome stilled. Sesshoumaru's warm fingers had taken hold of her wrist, gently turning her hand palm up as he shifted to sit closer to her. She looked up at him breathlessly. Then, she felt him place something in her palm.  
  
When she looked down, she saw three shards of Shikon, glowing in their inimitable way.  
  
"These are yours," he said, releasing her. "Hang on to them."  
  
Kagome carefully tucked them into the pocket of her pajamas. "Thanks," she murmured. Once the precious shards were safely stowed, Sesshoumaru watched as Kagome turned her face back up to look at the stars. They were now sitting shoulder to shoulder, not close enough to touch, but close enough that the warmth of their bodies mingled in the night air.  
  
There were so many stars. Kagome's eyes closed for a moment. She wondered how many shards there were, and how long it would take to find them all.  
  
Finding that she was lapsing into self pity, she shook her head, trying to perk up.  
  
"What?" Sesshoumaru asked.  
  
"You're not so bad," Kagome remarked. "I mean, you're hardly a nice person, but that's fine. I can understand why you can't stand Inuyasha. You're not really the most compatible people." She paused for a second. "But why do you hate Seiji? I mean, he's completely harmless. He's rather sweet, actually. I can't see him doing anything to piss you off."  
  
Sesshoumaru frowned slightly, and started emitting those waves of irritation again.  
  
Kagome sighed when no answer was forthcoming. "Never mind," she muttered with a yawn. Being out in the fresh air had done her good. She was getting a little sleepy. "Good night."  
  
"Are you going to mate with him?"  
  
Suddenly, Kagome didn't feel sleepy anymore.  
  
"What?!" she whispered, scandalized. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she could think of anything to say. "What?!" she repeated.  
  
Obviously, the thinking thing wasn't working so well.  
  
"WHAT?!" she sputtered. She pinched her leg viciously. This had to be a nightmare.  
  
Sesshoumaru looked completely unfazed. What on earth was the matter with her? It was a simple question.  
  
Kagome buried her burning face in her hands, leapt to her feet, and then turned to beat a hasty retreat to her room. There, she would hear only Rin's comforting snoring, and be undisturbed by strange and off-putting questions like the one she had just imagined she had heard but couldn't possibly have.  
  
Suddenly, Kagome found herself yanked into Sesshoumaru's lap.  
  
"Lemme go," Kagome demanded from behind one of the hands that Sesshoumaru was currently prying loose. "I'm sleepy now."  
  
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. Kagome was being awfully evasive, and she looked almost apoplectic.  
  
"Do you intend to mate with the boy?" Sesshoumaru repeated slowly, seeing nothing wrong with the question. When Kagome realized that she was not, in fact, hallucinating, her eyes snapped open.  
  
"I can't believe you!" she said accusingly. "It's none of your business. And NO! Oh, gods," Kagome fumed, struggling to free her hands from his and get the hell out of the suddenly surreal situation.  
  
"Good," Sesshoumaru said quietly, in a tone that made Kagome freeze for a moment. Then, her wrists were free. She said a silent prayer of thanks.  
  
Kagome's thanks to the powers that be abruptly changed to bitter recriminations when Sesshoumaru settled his hands on her waist.  
  
She closed her eyes, flushing again as she registered that she was in his lap for the second time that day. Even worse, she was practically straddling him. Also, his warm hands were slowly stroking up and down her sides. "Forget what I said about you not being that awful," she said in a panicked, shaky voice. "You're the most horrible person ever to walk the earth. You're-"  
  
Sesshoumaru elected to shut her up in the most effective way he had found to date.  
  
Her lips tasted sweet and incredibly warm under his, in contrast to the chill air. He pulled back slightly, offering her a chance to escape, but she remained utterly still, eyes closed. Sesshoumaru shrugged slightly, and leaned in for another taste. A thrill ran through him, spreading heat through his veins as he breathed in deeply.  
  
He'd forgotten how good she smelled.  
  
Slowly, her lips parted, returning the soft pressure, nipping lightly at his lower lip.  
  
This was a really bad idea, Kagome thought shakily. Sesshoumaru's remarkably talented tongue stroked into her mouth like rough, liquid heat, rubbing against hers in a way that made her feel light-headed.  
  
In fact, it was quite possibly the worst idea ever conceived since the beginning of recorded time.  
  
Kagome was about to lodge a formal protest when his mouth moved warmly to the curve of her jaw and then to her neck, licking slow, curling patterns over it before lightly scraping his fangs against her sensitized skin. Kagome shivered slightly, her fingers stroking his scalp, seemingly under their own aegis.  
  
Sesshoumaru smiled faintly against her throat. Her hands slid down, nails digging slightly into his shoulders. She felt as wonderful as he had recalled, all soft curves and sleek muscle under his hands. The smell of her pleasure, rising between their bodies, seemed to fill his head, making his breathing rough and his heartbeat quicken. Slowly, his hands moved lower, sliding over her flannel-clad hips, cupping her bottom to press her flush against his body.  
  
Kagome's eyes opened wide as his warm, broad chest rubbed teasingly against her breasts. Well, she thought hazily, that was definitely new.  
  
Her eyes opened even wider when she registered the hard, pulsing pressure against the juncture of her thighs.  
  
She shifted slightly away, but succeeded only in rubbing herself firmly against him, sending a warm, melting ache through her all the way to her extremities.  
  
Kagome leaned forward again, and noted that her unintentional rocking motion produced some very interesting sensations - sensations that she really wouldn't mind replicating, though they were probably far too good to be healthy.  
  
From the pressure of Sesshoumaru's hands on her hips, he wouldn't mind replicating them either.  
  
"Gah," she gasped into Sesshoumaru's hair as he rubbed himself insistently against her. Seemingly from a distance, she registered that the white strands in front of her face were less like human hair than very long, fine fur.  
  
Sesshoumaru didn't reply, as his lips were fastened over Kagome's earlobe, tongue tracing teasingly. He quickly tipped Kagome back onto the grass, pulling her knees up at his sides before slowly moving up over her body. She shivered at the cold prickle of the ground at her back, and the heat that seemed to radiate from Sesshoumaru, burning her through their clothing.  
  
The way he was staring at her with those dark amber eyes was enough to burn her on its own. He looked down at her, eyes sweeping slowly over her body before he ducked his head.  
  
Kagome's mouth went dry as he bent to nuzzle her breasts through the flannel of her green froggie pajamas. "Um. . ." she said uncertainly, voice uneven, "what. . . what exactly-"  
  
Sesshoumaru bit gently at one hardened nipple and was rewarded with a rather charming whimper of need as Kagome's hands clenched in his clothing, pulling him closer to her. Then, he rasped his tongue over it, through damp fabric, before taking the firm peak into his mouth, rubbing the wet flannel against the sensitive flesh beneath. Kagome hooked one leg around his, arching up against his stomach, as the soft skin of her waist warmed beneath his hands.  
  
"Whuh. . ." Kagome murmured, desperately trying to find her brain. It was really hard, especially now that his hand was sneaking up further under her top, the tips of his claws lightly moving over her skin like pinpoints of fire. . .  
  
"Mm?" Sesshoumaru asked, trying not to talk with his mouth full. He almost groaned as she rubbed rhythmically against him, simultaneously easing his ache and intensifying it.  
  
Kagome dragged him up for a deep, thrusting kiss, and marveled at the taste of him. Then, she couldn't seem to stop herself from squirming her hands into the folds of fabric that covered his chest. He growled into her mouth as her hands met his bare flesh, stroking downwards into his clothing, her fingernails scraping over his heated skin.  
  
Impatiently, Sesshoumaru pulled away briefly, keeping her gaze pinned to his as he dragged the material off his shoulders. He shrugged his arms out of the sleeves so that the garment hung messily from his waist, before lightly grasping Kagome's wrists, pressing her hands to his bare stomach.  
  
Kagome blinked up at him wonderingly, running her hands up slowly over the sleek musculature of his chest , shoulders, and back. He panted against her cheek, leaning into her hands as she stroked him, running his teeth over the line of her jaw.  
  
Sesshoumaru was perfect, she thought foggily. All graceful and strong, like . . . some kind of really graceful and strong thing.  
  
Giving up on similes, she nudged Sesshoumaru onto his back so she could explore at more leisure. Not the type to be pushed around, he caught her around the waist so that she landed astride him, and then slowly rocked up against her, staring hungrily at the place their bodies touched. Kagome looked down as well, too far gone for embarrassment, and made a low, choked sound, as she felt his flesh jump, hardening further against her. Hesitantly, Kagome reached between them to touch. A deep rumbly noise erupted from Sesshoumaru's chest at the fleeting caress.  
  
"Sesshoumaru," she gasped weakly. "Whuh. . ." she blinked as the sight of his chest once again robbed her of speech. Kagome leaned down, the dark length of her hair falling over that broad expanse of skin. At the cool, silky weight, Sesshoumaru was unable to prevent himself from seizing her hips and bucking up against her with another growl.  
  
At what she gauged to be his favorable response, Kagome leaned down again, pressing scalding kisses over his skin before flicking her tongue over one of his nipples.  
  
What happened next was a bit of a blur. When her breath returned, she found that she staring up at the stars as grass prickled against her bare back. Her shirt lay a small distance away, completely button-less. Meanwhile, a violently aroused youkai was doing his best to suck her breast into his mouth, whole.  
  
The young woman made a muffled moaning noise that turned into a yelp as Sesshoumaru's palm pressed warmly at the juncture of her thighs. He gave the silken globe he'd been inhaling a parting lick, and turned to its mate, in the spirit of fairness.  
  
Gods, he thought muddily, lost in the taste of her skin. He could feel her through the soft fabric, wet and ready, and the scent of her was going to drive him insane. In the back of his mind, a quiet voice reminded him that a human female really shouldn't smell this good, and that he should be disgusted. However, the thought was swiftly drowned out by a louder one. This voice asked some very insistent questions about her delicious scent's obvious corollary.  
  
He wanted a taste.  
  
As Kagome arched up against him, feeling her heart beating in places it hadn't before, she acknowledged that she may have lost control of the situation a few exits back.  
  
However, somewhere between the time when Sesshoumaru's tongue swirled into her navel, and the point when he started pulling insistently at the waistband of her pajama bottoms, Kagome recovered enough presence of mind to ask the question that had been flitting in and out of her head like a butterfly on speed.  
  
Sesshoumaru distantly praised the wonderful textiles of Kagome's time. The waistband of her strange hakama seemed remarkably willing to slip down over her rounded hips. He licked his lips in anticipation, rubbing his cheek over her inner thigh.  
  
"Sesshoumaru?" she asked hoarsely, as a rush of embarrassment kicked her brain into gear. She tried to ease his hands away from her waistband and tug his head back up to her eye-level, but was spectacularly unsuccessful. Giving up on gentle persuasion, she grabbed a handful of his hair, and hauled him up that way. Sesshoumaru made a less pleased growling sound, but complied, though he was apparently still intent on his goal.  
  
Kagome inhaled sharply as she felt the whisper of claws low on her stomach, and grabbed his wrist before he could insinuate his hand any further into her pants.  
  
Scooting backwards with all the speed at her disposal, she sat up, and then retrieved her shirt. "What are we doing?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even, as she pulled the edges of the garment around her unsteadily. She looked into Sesshoumaru's eyes as he sat up as well, but the hunger in them really wasn't helping her. She lowered her gaze, suddenly shy, and hastily redirected her wide eyes upwards before she ended up staring at another very non-helpful area.  
  
Sesshoumaru blinked his golden eyes at her lazily. "What?" he asked. Her voice had acquired a sudden resemblance to Jaken's. The thought cooled his ardor somewhat.  
  
Though, he thought a moment later as he took in her flushed face, trembling hands, and swollen mouth, he was rapidly recovering.  
  
Kagome swallowed past the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat at that look in his eyes, and scooted further away. "I'm not. . . we can't do this," she said firmly. "It's just bad."  
  
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed at the perceived insult. In a flash, he reached for her as if to prove her wrong, causing her to retreat even further.  
  
"A bad idea, I mean!" Kagome qualified in a nervous squeak. She shut her eyes and pressed her shaking hand to her temple.  
  
They sat silently for a few minutes. Kagome watched warily when Sesshoumaru moved again, but relaxed as he slowly shrugged back into his sleeves. He noted with some amusement that Kagome's face fell slightly as he covered up.  
  
Sesshoumaru exhaled shakily. She wanted him, badly. He could practically taste it.  
  
He could definitely smell it.  
  
And, now that he had a moment, he had to admit to himself that he wanted her more than any other female he had encountered. Stranger still was the fact that his desire for her only intensified as time went on.  
  
"All right," Sesshoumaru said, looking directly into her eyes. He needed some time to think, preferably while she was some distance away, wearing something that actually fastened down the front. For a second, he felt a little bad for destroying her strange garment, but after he got a better look at it, he decided that it really couldn't have looked much worse anyway and that he had probably done her a favour.  
  
Kagome stared forward at the bunny slippers she was still wearing, to her surprise. She would never look at them the same way again.  
  
"Go to sleep," Sesshoumaru said quietly.  
  
The girl, despite her protestations, seemed reluctant to leave him, even though her eyes were starting to drift shut. They sat under the stars for a little while longer, until Sesshoumaru heard a familiar sound from within the hut.  
  
He paused, tilting his head slightly, as Kagome looked at him curiously. "Go inside, and wake Rin. She dreams of wolves."  
  
Kagome's chin lifted, and she stared up at him for a moment, as though she were seeing something unexpected.  
  
"Goodnight," she said decisively. Surprising him, Kagome leaned forward on her knees, threaded her fingers through his hair, and kissed Sesshoumaru hard on the mouth.  
  
Then, she clumsily lurched to her feet and ran back to the hut, clutching her shirt closed, as pink bunny ears wildly flopped around before her.  
  
Sesshoumaru exhaled and lay back on the grass for a while before he walked back to the hut. Tugging the folds of his clothing back into place, he sat back down against the wall, closed his eyes, and the remains of the night crawled by.  
  
**********  
  
When Kagome awoke the next morning, it was full light outside. For a moment, she was disoriented. She had become accustomed to being driven from her futon when the sky was still cool with the blue of departing darkness. Blinking in confusion, she came to the slow conclusion that Aya had skipped the dawn ritual that the younger woman had mentally dubbed "The Hayashi Gong Overture: With Yelling," out of consideration for Rin.  
  
Kagome stretched, feeling positively hedonistic. She'd forgotten what it was like not to be violently yanked into the breaking day.  
  
She turned to her side to see her young guest. Rin was lying on her stomach, fingers loosely curled next to her plump cheek. She looked utterly peaceful.  
  
However, the look of peace was a jarring contrast to what Kagome had seen the previous night. Then, Rin had been convulsed in silent terror, gasping for breath as tears streamed down her sleeping face.  
  
After being shaken awake, Rin had quickly calmed, though she had latched onto Kagome's arm with near inhuman strength.  
  
Kagome had contented herself with stroking Rin's hair, unsure of what to do.  
  
Rin, on the other hand, had behaved as though nothing extraordinary had happened. The two girls had lain in silence, waiting for Rin's breathing to slow, as Kagome had puzzled over Sesshoumaru's words. Dreaming of wolves? The older girl's mouth set into a worried line.  
  
"Kagome?" Rin had murmured sleepily.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Dying hurts." The little girl's tone was almost conversational. At Kagome's look of confusion, Rin had merely inched closer and tightened her grip on Kagome's arm, turning her cheek into the pillow. "Seeing people die is worse, though. Bandits are like wolves. Sometimes I think I am running again," Rin had continued sleepily. "I forget about Sesshoumaru-sama, and Jaken with his staff of heads. Sometimes, I forget that Sesshoumaru-sama is faster than wolves. . ."  
  
With that, Rin had yawned, and quickly returned to sleep, leaving Kagome to go over the girl's words long after. And, though Kagome tried to sneak her arm out of Rin's grip, the child had responded by making a sound of displeasure and administering a mighty squeeze.  
  
Absently, the young woman massaged her arm. At some point in the night, Rin had released it, but it looked like she might be developing a few small bruises where Rin's hand had been.  
  
Kagome wondered to herself who Rin turned to at home. Sesshoumaru had definitely seemed acquainted with Rin's nightmares, but Kagome couldn't imagine him allowing the girl to abuse his arm in such a manner. It just seemed uncharacteristic, but then again, his gestures of concern towards Kagome did as well.  
  
If Kagome were to be honest, she had to admit to herself that she had no idea what was or was not characteristic of the youkai anymore.  
  
Before Kagome had been separated from the group, she had formed an opinion of Sesshoumaru that was by no means flattering. She had found him arrogant, ruthless, and uncaring about anything outside of his own agenda. Rin had confused her a bit, but Kagome had just chalked the girl's presence up to whim or boredom.  
  
Now, she brooded, everything was so much more complicated. Kagome pulled the sleeping bag up to her chin, as though to shield herself from thoughts of what had occurred the night before, but found that it was no longer possible. Sesshoumaru had awakened an appetite in Kagome that she had never even known she had. She couldn't seem to control herself around him.  
  
What the hell was she doing? It seemed that, when she interacted with Sesshoumaru, she was in constant danger of losing either her temper, or her clothes.  
  
He drove her insane.  
  
Kagome bit her lip. When had everything gotten out of control? She had been dangerously close to abandoning all common sense. It had been so difficult to stop.  
  
Nothing was supposed to feel that good, ever. Kagome emitted a helpless wheeze as she recalled certain details about a partially naked Sesshoumaru.  
  
The temptation was just too great, she thought miserably. She was only human. How could she be blamed? The abs alone should have at least required him to wear a warning label.  
  
But really, her apparent hormonal affinity for Sesshoumaru was the least of her worries. She'd known that she was venturing into dangerous territory before, but with her considerable powers of self-deception, she had managed to convince herself that those previous episodes were a temporary aberration for both parties involved - that it was merely a physical attraction that would quickly exhaust itself.  
  
However, Kagome was now having great difficulty keeping Sesshoumaru in the mental box she'd labeled "Inuyasha's cold and dangerous older brother - stay away." There was a lot more to him than she had thought.  
  
Kagome was convinced that, underneath the stony exterior, he was someone she could count on - maybe even someone she liked.  
  
A lot.  
  
Kagome wriggled further into the covers and snorted in frustration.  
  
Why did he have to start confusing her like this? Why did he have to start being all complex and layery?  
  
Why, gods, why did he have to become someone she had scary, new feelings for?  
  
Now that she thought about it, she would have paid good money for the return of Sesshoumaru: Tetsusaiga-chaser.  
  
He was definitely easier to deal with than Sesshoumaru: somewhat naked, now with intriguing personality and action-grip. . .  
  
Kagome wheezed once more, this time in horror at how warped her mind had become.  
  
Kagome couldn't afford to be confused now. She had too much to do. Kagome was a woman with a mission, and she was absolutely not going to be distracted. The fight of her life was coming, and the stress of becoming involved with anyone - much less a certain youkai who possessed the uncanny ability to push all her buttons simultaneously without the slightest alteration in facial expression -would be dangerous.  
  
She shut her eyes. Since it had become evident that keeping her pants on around Sesshoumaru might be a bit of an issue, the solution was simple.  
  
Kagome's lips formed a firm line of resolve.  
  
She was going to stay away from Sesshoumaru.  
  
With that thought in mind, Kagome carefully got out of bed to avoid waking Rin, and quietly started to dress herself.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshoumaru remained seated against the outside of the house. One by one, he heard the Hayashis rouse themselves and eat their morning meal, before leaving to begin their day's tasks.  
  
Unbeknownst to Kagome, Sesshoumaru had likewise come to a decision that morning, as he watched the new light creeping slowly over the land.  
  
It was clear to him that Kagome was even more dangerous to him than he had originally supposed.  
  
Before, he had thought he would be able to avoid her entirely, and thus lose interest in her. Now, it was obvious that his fascination with her was not going to be quashed so easily. Distance did not help, nor did exposure her consistently annoying presence. In fact, he had begun to find her more amusing than he did irritating.  
  
This mess was destroying his peace of mind, and he would not tolerate it. The day he'd first touched Kagome, he should have known; he should have ended it there, once and for all. Sending her to the miko had been a miscalculation on his part. He now found it difficult to understand why he had thought helping her to develop her strength would do anything to reduce the strange power she seemed to exert over him.  
  
Sesshoumaru's head tilted slightly. He heard the unmistakable sound of movement through the wall at his back. It was Kagome. He could still hear Rin's deep, even breathing, signifying that she was remained fast asleep.  
  
Rising to his feet, Sesshoumaru re-entered the hut and silently waited for Kagome to emerge.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome felt strong and ready for anything. Even the motions of dressing seemed imbued with new purpose.  
  
No longer would she, Higurashi Kagome, be tossed by the winds of fate. No longer would she allow bothersome youkai to get under her skin and throw her off her game.  
  
Kagome donned her vest with a decisive tug.  
  
No longer would she be thrown by ill-advised attraction to high-handed males of any species.  
  
With her inspirational monologue echoing through her mind, Kagome strode determinedly from the room, only to run smack into the last person she wanted to see.  
  
It took a moment for Kagome to recover from her surprise. It took a little longer for her to uncurl her fingers and remove her hands from the warm fabric covering Sesshoumaru's chest, and to free herself from the hands that had risen to hold her in place.  
  
It really took far too long for her to tear her wide eyes from his unreadable ones, and take a step back.  
  
It was okay, Kagome thought, shaken. When one had an objective, there were bound to be obstacles one just had to overcome.  
  
Her heart was only beating erratically from surprise, she told herself sternly. Now was the perfect time to implement her plan of 100% Sesshoumaru avoidance. Even though her sudden leap backwards seemed kind of nervous and awkward, all she really had to do was go around the, youkai who stared at her, advancing.  
  
Right?  
  
Kagome stepped aside, and calmly walked out of the door of the hut, heaving a sigh of relief.  
  
Her relief was short-lived, when she heard a quiet footstep behind her.  
  
Damn it, Kagome thought to herself. Her plan contained one small but crucial flaw.  
  
What was she supposed to do if he wasn't willing to be avoided?  
  
She furtively looked from side to side, and had the ridiculous urge to hide.  
  
Sesshoumaru stood next to Kagome on the grass where they had lain the night before, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She looked extremely ill at ease, he noted predatorily. He waited silently for her to acknowledge his presence, but she seemed completely occupied with her own thoughts.  
  
"Kagome."  
  
She blinked twice, rapidly, and actually wrung her hands before she caught herself. She looked down, trying to collect herself.  
  
It didn't help. Between her feet, she spotted a very familiar button with a frog on it. It winked slyly at her from the grass, as if to say that it knew what she had done, and had no qualms about blackmailing her about it.  
  
Well, Kagome thought guiltily, maybe if she just stood here and didn't say much, Sesshoumaru would go away.  
  
"Kagome," he repeated slowly.  
  
"Mm hmm?" she choked, still refusing to meet his eyes. Now that he was right next to her, she couldn't help but feel increasingly mortified at the previous night's events. She'd practically. . . argh, Kagome groaned inwardly.  
  
Plus, her plan to avoid him entirely this morning was falling apart around her. Kagome mused, briefly, on her failure as a strategist, before Sesshoumaru interrupted her thoughts yet again.  
  
"Rin and I will leave very soon."  
  
Sesshoumaru was infuriated at the look of elation that crossed Kagome's face. How dare she be so obviously happy at his departure, he fumed. The disgruntled youkai took hold of her arm, causing the bizarre female to emit a strange yelping sound.  
  
"Oh, w-well then," she stammered, finally turning to look at Sesshoumaru and forcibly steadying her voice. This avoidance stuff was hard. "I guess this is goodbye. It was nice seeing both of you. I'll just go and wake Rin up, and then. . . " she trailed off.  
  
Sesshoumaru had moved closer and leaned down, much to Kagome's dismay. She stared intently at the ground, legs stiff so as to prevent her knees from wobbling. That just settled it, she thought bitterly. She couldn't even stand properly with him around. Keeping a very comfortable distance from here on out wasn't just an option; it was a necessity.  
  
Lost in her thoughts, Kagome looked up in confusion when Sesshoumaru took her shoulders in his firm grip. Kagome noted, with mounting alarm, that the look in his eyes she'd been trying to identify was awfully similar to the stare Buyo leveled on Grandpa's broom before pouncing on it.  
  
Kagome froze with both fear and anticipation, thinking that he was about to kiss her.  
  
He didn't.  
  
The taiyoukai was mesmerized by the play of emotions on Kagome's face. First, she'd seemed determined to ignore him. A second ago, she'd almost been afraid of him. Now, she was unconsciously leaning into his touch.  
  
His hand seemed to move of its own volition, slipping slowly over her collarbone, to the hollow in her neck where her pulse pounded beneath his fingertips. He inhaled sharply, his breath brushing her skin like a caress when he murmured into her ear.  
  
"You will stay away from the Seiji boy."  
  
Kagome, thrown by something indefinable in Sesshoumaru's touch, was slightly delayed in her reaction. However, when she finally registered his words, her paralysis was washed away in a towering red wave of indignation.  
  
"Wait just one minute!" she bristled, taking a step back. "You have no right to tell me what to do. And why are you so obsessed with Sei- "  
  
Sesshoumaru continued to speak as though she hadn't said a word. "Soon, you will be ready to take a male to your bed. When you are ready, you will choose me."  
  
Kagome's mouth fell open. How was it that he could just say these things to her and not even blink an eye? He sounded like he was informing her about the soup of the day or something.  
  
It's almost lunch-time! Choose fiesta vegetable!  
  
Kagome would have laughed, if the parts of her brain responsible for laughter were functioning.  
  
She shook her head, mind completely overloaded, before turning to walk away. When she felt his hand on her arm again, she suddenly regained her powers of speech.  
  
"What makes you think that, you arrogant asshole?" she hissed under her breath, almost shaking with rage. "Of all the presumptuous things to say. Just because we've . . . made out a few times. . ." Kagome sputtered, trying to shake herself free.  
  
Of course, she had to admit to herself that 'making out' seemed woefully inadequate to describe what had been going on. 'Making out' seemed to imply that some kissing, maybe a little groping had taken place while watching tv on one's parents' couch.  
  
Getting so carried away that one almost had sex with a dog-demon, who tried to kill one in the past, outdoors, scattering one's buttons with wild abandon while one wore bunny slippers - well. . . that seemed to fall somewhat outside the 'making out' umbrella.  
  
Sesshoumaru looked incredulous. Damn it. Obviously, he wasn't buying it either, Kagome thought glumly.  
  
"You truly want to know what makes me certain you will choose me?" he drawled, sounding dangerous.  
  
Kagome shook her head energetically, but he stepped closer nonetheless, pulling her immobile form gently against his. Slowly, almost lazily, he ran his fingertips lightly up the inside of her arm, all the while looking directly into her wide eyes. Kagome shivered, feeling a familiar warmth spread through her.  
  
Then, without warning, Sesshoumaru stepped back, and made a big show of inhaling deeply as one of his eyebrows slowly arched.  
  
Kagome started sputtering. Either a vat of lava had been poured over her face, or she was blushing harder than she'd ever blushed in her life, she thought weakly. She'd forgotten about his sense of smell. The idea that he could smell when she was like that was utterly horrifying.  
  
The fact that he barely had to touch her to get a reaction was even more horrifying. And, to top it all off, he looked incredibly pleased with himself.  
  
"Damn. . . you. . . arrrrrrrgh!" Kagome fumed.  
  
Sesshoumaru watched her with concern. He hadn't known that humans could turn that strange purplish color, he mused.  
  
Luckily for him, Kagome was still so mad that she was incapable of speech. She was also incapable of anything besides clenching and unclenching her fists, which was why, when Sesshoumaru's golden stare wandered slowly over her body and he pulled her close again, his arms weren't purified right off.  
  
"It will be me," he repeated, tightening his arms around her. Kagome's eyes widened as she felt him, hard, against her stomach. Then, his breath brushed her ear, causing another wave of shivering to overtake her. "And you will like it."  
  
"Ac-t-tually. . . b-but. . ." she stammered weakly. There were too many mental signals. Part of her was so angry that she kind of wanted to kill him. Another part of her couldn't help but remember how nice the previous night's activities had been. Kagome was also forcefully reminded that she had had a plan of some sort, and that it hadn't involved turning into a blibbering idiot. Another voice in her head kept repeating, in agonized tones, 'he can actually smell that?' and whimpering in mortification.  
  
Kagome's knees gave out.  
  
Sesshoumaru lowered Kagome slowly until she was sitting on the grass, as silent and motionless as an obelisk. It was quite obvious to him that the poor girl had been completely overwhelmed by his charms. He patiently waited for a response, almost looking forward to her inevitable reaction - truly, the girl was too temperamental for her own good. However, after some time with no change in her demeanor, Sesshoumaru went back to the door of the hut, donned his armor and pelt, and went inside to retrieve a sleeping Rin.  
  
When he re-emerged, Kagome was still gaping vacantly at nothing in particular.  
  
Sesshoumaru sighed in exasperation, gently taking Kagome's shoulder and shaking her. When she blinked and seemed to emerge a little from her trance, the corners of his mouth quirked slightly upward. "I am giving you time to accustom yourself to the idea," he said quietly. With that, he bent down and pressed a warm kiss to Kagome's lips, before he woke the slumbering Rin.  
  
"We are leaving now," he said firmly to the little girl as she rubbed her eyes. "Say goodbye to Kagome."  
  
Barely even disoriented by her sudden awakening, Rin grinned and flung her arms around the older girl. "Bye Kagome!" she exclaimed, before noticing that her friend was doing a remarkable driftwood impression. "Kagome? Are you all right?"  
  
The miko nodded numbly. Rin, accepting her reassurance at face value, merely shrugged and smiled. "Okay, then. I have to go now, but maybe Sesshoumaru-sama will bring me back soon!"  
  
Kagome peered up in disgruntlement at the maddening youkai in question. Yup, she thought hazily. He was definitely laughing on the inside again.  
  
"Yes, Rin," he said, barely able to keep the amusement out of his voice, "I think that perhaps I will."  
  
The little girl clapped her hands, looking ecstatic. Kagome, on the other hand, pinned Sesshoumaru with a fulminating glare.  
  
In the minutes that followed, Kagome somehow managed to say goodbye to Rin and give her a farewell hug before the little girl flew away with that. . . that. . . argh!  
  
Oh, crap. Crap, crap, crap. Kagome groaned, before lapsing back into a shell-shocked state.  
  
Sesshoumaru was not going to let her avoid him at all.  
  
**********  
  
Later in the afternoon, Aya made her way back to the hut from the village with a sigh of relief. She was not very fond of being in the village. Places that were heavily settled made her feel stifled, so she'd left Seiji and Kazuo to run the errands. She ran a hand through her short black hair as she made her way to the door, and then halted abruptly.  
  
Her pupil was sitting on the grass in front of the hut with a strange, dazed expression. Aya's face settled into a frown, as she worried that the slime last night had had a lingering effect.  
  
The older woman crouched next to Kagome, waving her hand in front of her face. Kagome blinked, and then shook her head as though to clear it as Aya peered at her curiously. "What the hell happened to you?"  
  
Kagome blinked again, before flopping back onto the grass by Aya's feet with a groan. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," the young woman said wearily. "I don't even believe it, and I was there."  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" Aya inquired magnanimously, though a little reluctantly. This, she concluded, could only have been caused by that stone- faced inuyoukai.  
  
Kagome was silent for a little while. "For now?" she paused. "Not really."  
  
Aya sighed and then grinned. "Well, do you want to spar then? I've found that hitting things helps in many situations," she added helpfully.  
  
Kagome smiled slowly in a way that almost made Aya regret her offer, before leaping to her feet. "Yeah! That sounds like just what I need." The young woman sprinted into the house for weapons, ranting continuously under her breath.  
  
"Ooooh. I can't believe the gall of that tactless, overbearing, snobby, plan-ruining, striped Neanderthal. . ."  
  
Aya's green eyes followed Kagome in trepidation. She didn't know whether to laugh, or run back to the village for more scintillating conversation with the rice-dealer. The woman winced as she heard repeated clanging and thudding noises from inside her home. What on earth was Kagome doing in there?  
  
The young woman emerged from the hut, carrying what looked like Aya's entire arsenal and wearing a thunderous expression. "Let's kick some ass!" she exclaimed as she placed the weapons on the ground and chose a very unholy-looking axe.  
  
Aya sighed. Unfortunately, in sparring, hers was the only ass Kagome was going to run into. The older miko grabbed her customary kodachi, sending her pupil a look of barely concealed alarm.  
  
She was definitely going to regret her offer.  
  
**********  
  
For a while after Sesshoumaru's visit, Kagome woke up each morning wondering if he would show up again that day. After all, he hadn't specified when he would appear again. Perhaps he was, as usual, trying to keep her off-balance. It was yet another point against him.  
  
Kagome was, of course, only wondering because she had been preparing a long rant. It covered many valid and incontrovertible points, including how presumptuous and high-handed he was. There was also a trenchant, though related, subsection outlining all the reasons why Kagome was not, under any circumstances, going to sleep with him.  
  
Kagome liked to go over these points each night, right before she fell asleep in exhaustion. Unfortunately, when she dropped into the world of dreams, her subconscious seemed to ignore them completely. He didn't have to know about that, though. However, she had to give thanks for small favors; Kagome had grown to welcome the clamor of Aya's early morning pot- whacking routine.  
  
Aside from that, the young woman busily continued to train. While her ability to control her power was becoming reliable, Aya kept pushing her, citing the fact that Kagome still wasn't able to access all of it. Frequently, the young woman wished that her teacher had never seen the extent of her spiritual strength. It would have at least gotten the older woman to ease up on her a little.  
  
It was as though Kagome were butting up against a brick wall. Something seemed to be holding her back. Occasionally, Kagome caught Aya watching her with a dark frown on her face. When asked, the older miko would merely grin and shake her head, but it was obvious to the younger woman that there was something Aya wasn't telling her.  
  
Kagome rapidly went through her forms in the afternoon sun, as Aya watched critically. The older miko sighed. Kagome had so much potential, but if this Naraku was as dangerous as she'd heard, this wouldn't be enough.  
  
Aya was worried.  
  
Many years ago, when Aya had begun to train herself, she had come up against a similar barrier. She had eventually concluded that there was a reserve built in, automatically limiting the use of this kind of spiritual strength. She supposed that, theoretically, training hard in meditation would help break that barrier. The problem was that she wasn't sure how long that would take. For Kagome, time was of the essence.  
  
Lately, Aya's pupil had seemed more on edge. She had asked how much longer she would need to stay here. Obviously, the girl felt badly; her friends were hunting the shards, while she hid in relative safety.  
  
Soon, Aya knew, Kagome would want to leave. Aya resolved that the young miko would not leave here before she was satisfied that Kagome could survive her battle.  
  
"Kagome!" she called. The younger woman looked up and smiled in acknowledgement.  
  
"Time for more meditation exercises," Aya commanded.  
  
The older woman's head lowered in grief as she remembered how she had surpassed her own limitations, so long ago. With all her heart, she prayed that Kagome would never have to experience such a thing.  
  
Some things were not worth the price one paid in suffering.  
  
**********  
  
Jaken sighed, fighting the urge to hide that had sprung into his heart at the first sign of his master's and Rin's return.  
  
Oh, it had been a blessed two days, he thought wistfully. Two days of quiet.  
  
Two days of peace, he thought, that were about to come to an end.  
  
"Jaken? Jaken?" the child sang, as she ran through the halls of the great house. Where, oh where could he be, she wondered. Had he missed her?  
  
She came to a sudden halt when she spotted the toad-like retainer. "Jaken!" she exclaimed happily as she approached. "Have you been lonely? Was it boring here without us?"  
  
Jaken scowled. Lonely? Bored? Hardly, he scoffed to himself.  
  
Though, he thought, it was quite upsetting at times, knowing that the master might have use for his services while he was away. And he did have to admit that sitting alone in the scroll room, waiting for a message, had been a rather jarring change from his usual activities.  
  
After all, running from Rin was a challenge, requiring strategy and cunning.  
  
"Of course not, child," he croaked sullenly. "This Jaken had very important things to do. I am very useful to Sesshoumaru-sama, you know," he chided. "I cannot spend all of my time running from a human child."  
  
Rin smiled and approached Jaken, who quickly scurried backwards. For a moment, he noticed, the girl looked hurt.  
  
Jaken was sure that the pang he felt was indigestion.  
  
"Jaken?" Rin asked, coming to a stop.  
  
"What?" he asked grumpily, bringing the staff of heads protectively before him.  
  
Rin frowned, and hesitated.  
  
"What!" Jaken grumbled, feeling somewhat panicked, for reasons he could not name.  
  
"You run away from me?" Rin asked quietly. "You're not. . . playing?" Rin's voice wavered pathetically. Jaken froze in horror at the strange feeling in his chest at the girl's heartbroken tone. When he looked up into her face, it was all he could do not to croak in dismay.  
  
The child was obviously broken. She was leaking! Water was coming out of her eyes!  
  
Sesshoumaru-sama would never believe that it was not his faithful Jaken's fault for breaking her. Frantically, Jaken moved towards her, trying to figure out a way to stop the watering. If only he knew more about humans, he might be able to fix this, he thought, wracking his brain.  
  
"Rin! Stop that!" he ordered, shaking the staff at her warningly.  
  
Rin's lip wobbled, giving him hope that she would obey. That hope was quickly dashed when she started leaking even more.  
  
"Of course I'm playing!" Jaken babbled desperately. "It is, er, fun for this Jaken to play with the human child, no matter how painfully hard she squeezes me!"  
  
Rin merely blinked at him in confusion, sniffling.  
  
Jaken watched in horror as water also started to come out of the child's nose.  
  
He was done for, he thought in terror. Surely, with so much water loss, Rin was going to shrivel into a husk!  
  
"R-really?" Rin asked hopefully. Then, she sniffled again. "I did not know I was hurting you."  
  
"Yes!" Jaken exclaimed, inching towards her cautiously. "But it is all right. This Jaken is strong!" he intoned, puffing his chest out with pride.  
  
Rin merely looked at him with suspicion. She was still emitting water from her eyes, Jaken noticed, but seemed to be stopping. Relieved that she was no longer in danger of drying up, Jaken quickly dropped the staff of heads and did the only thing he could think to do.  
  
He hugged her.  
  
Rin sniffled slightly, but tentatively squeezed him back. "I am sorry for hugging you too hard," she sniffled. "I won't anymore."  
  
"Er, good!" Jaken said as haughtily as he could manage. This wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before, he thought. In fact, it almost made him warm inside, to know that Rin had thought about him while she and Sesshoumaru- sama had been away. She had actually worried that he might be lonely.  
  
Suddenly, Jaken remembered something. Yesterday evening, as he had been performing a patrol of the house grounds, it had occurred to him that the bucket in the well would be a rather ingenious hiding spot. Surely, Rin would never think to look for him there.  
  
Rin blinked in confusion as Jaken suddenly released her and scampered away to pick up his staff of heads. Then, he turned. "Rin," he crowed excitedly, "you will never find me this time!" With that, he sprinted away, stopping only to give Sesshoumaru-sama an obsequious bow when he saw him by the scroll room.  
  
Rin quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve, grinned, and sat down to begin counting.  
  
**********  
  
For the umpteenth time, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara and Inuyasha graciously accepted a village's thanks for ridding them of a horrible youkai.  
  
"You would think," Miroku mused in a low voice, "that after they noticed that offering virgins to a mysterious reptilian lord didn't prevent him from raining poisonous jaki onto their farms, the villagers would come to the conclusion that they were enormous suckers."  
  
Sango merely grinned in amusement, accepting a sack of rice for their troubles. "Many thanks," she said to the village women, who were weeping with relief at the safe return of their daughters.  
  
Inuyasha merely smirked. "Right, Miroku. And you would think that, after seeing a mysterious perverted monk show up at his door with warnings of dark omens and letting him eat all the food in the house, a village chief would notice that he's an enormous sucker."  
  
Miroku merely raised a rakish eyebrow, and then winked at one of the rescued virgins. Sango, a small distance away, twitched slightly when the girl blushed and giggled. "It's hardly a lie," Miroku rationalized smoothly. "With all the youkai coming out of the woodwork lately, it's probably true that this countryside is dwelling under some sort of dark omen. At least we got a shard out of it, and a night's rest. We can continue south tomorrow."  
  
Shippou snickered before rummaging in a basket of fruit and choosing a juicy-looking persimmon. "Inuyasha, considering all the good we do, I don't think it's a big deal. We have to eat, after all."  
  
"You mean you have to eat," Inuyasha said sourly, bopping Shippou on the head and then stealing his persimmon. "This, coming from the member of the group who basically only eats and sleeps!"  
  
"Hey!" Shippou cried, trying futilely to reclaim the fruit Inuyasha had taken from him. "I can fight! Plus, I'm good for morale."  
  
Sango sat down on the hillside with the others. "Speaking of the group," she began hesitantly, "was that Kikyou I saw lurking in the bushes as we fought?"  
  
Inuyasha nodded shortly. Lately, it had seemed like she was showing up very frequently, though her motives for doing so were a complete mystery, as usual. Inuyasha would have liked to think it was out of some lingering affection for him, but chances were that there was something else going on, entirely.  
  
Shippou, oblivious, added his two cents. "Why is she following us around and telling us where the shards are? Do you think she's going to tell Naraku all about where we are and what we're doing?"  
  
Inuyasha merely frowned and remained silent, making Miroku's and Sango's eyes widen. If he wasn't clobbering Shippou for asking such a thing, he was probably harboring similar suspicions.  
  
Miroku spoke up, after a brief silence. "I don't know. She seems different," he said slowly. "Lately, when she is around. . . her aura isn't the same as it was."  
  
Inuyasha looked up sharply. "What do you mean, Miroku?" he demanded.  
  
The monk merely shrugged, shifting closer to Sango. "I'm merely saying, she seems different," he said. "But I also must say, the way she's been following us, and lurking out of sight. . ."  
  
"It's creepy," Sango said matter-of-factly, casually brushing the houshi's hand away from her behind. Finally, she thought with a sigh, he was getting back to normal. She'd been starting to worry.  
  
Sango looked around at her companions, who had all suddenly leapt to their feet, staring up into the distant sky.  
  
"Shit!" Inuyasha exclaimed. The sky was darkening.  
  
"Youki," Miroku explained to Sango. "A lot of it, and it's coming fast."  
  
Shippou's tail was shaking furiously, and Kirara's fur stood on end as she snarled.  
  
"A damned swarm of youkai," Inuyasha snarled. "They know where they're going, too. The last time I saw a swarm like this. . ." he trailed off, and then looked at Sango.  
  
Her village, she registered weakly. And the person - no, the monster - who had orchestrated that episode. . .  
  
Sango picked Hiraikotsu up, the village's gifts of food lying forgotten, as the sky darkened to black. The villagers screamed, running back into their homes, though the structures would not be able to protect them if they were attacked with this much force.  
  
Shippou leapt onto Inuyasha's shoulder. Miroku quickly seized his staff, and ran towards Kirara, mounting behind Sango. As one, their faces turned up to the heavens, which had become obscured by a mass of flashing eyes and roiling, malevolent flesh.  
  
The bodies of hundreds of youkai, radiating bloodlust, passed overhead at blinding speed.  
  
"Well?" Inuyasha barked, turning to the others. Sango had paled, though her face was set into determined lines. Shippou merely shivered and clung even more tightly to Inuyasha's shoulder.  
  
Miroku looked overwhelmed. "Such enraged youki," he breathed. "Oh, this cannot be good."  
  
"Well?" Inuyasha repeated impatiently. "Let's go!" He quickly sprung into motion.  
  
Shaken out of their paralysis, the others followed Inuyasha, and the swarm, southward.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note:  
  
This chapter has been hell to write, and I just want to do a dance now. There are parts that will be altered, but just posting this thing is a huge load off my mind, so here it is.  
  
I know most people aren't into non-canon characters, but hopefully you can endure them.  
  
Just to inform you, bunch of the soundtrack will be coming down in the next while, since I have to free up some space.  
  
First of all, I just want to say thanks to the people who have reviewed or sent me supportive email. It really helps (though you'd hardly know it, with how long this chapter took. . .).  
  
Secondly, I'd like to thank the people who have helped me by answering questions: Ookami-chan, CX-chan, Maxine, Kii, Chibi Tenshi, Phoenix, and anyone who I've inadvertently omitted. Your input has been immensely helpful. 


	11. 9 Impossible Dream

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 9: Impossible Dream  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own.  
  
Rating: There are two versions of the story from here on out, one is rated R and one is rated NC-17. This one is rated - R. The full version can be found on Mediaminer under the same pen name.  
  
Warnings: Sex. Violence. Snark.  
  
Summary: Kagome's back in the present, and she's about to meet a guy named Sesshou. What happened in Sengoku Jidai? Neither of them know yet, either. 2 stories in 1, present and past. Kag/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: People have dreams. Others lurk. Hojo has coffee, and someone creepy comes out to play.  
  
Soundtrack (tracks available on my website):  
  
Part A - Bjork: Venus as a Boy  
  
Part B - GUK: Close to Me (covering the Cure)  
  
*****  
  
--- Present Day ---  
  
**********  
  
The late-night air hung heavily over the city, strangely warm and kinetic with potential. In the distance, the faint roll of thunder was barely audible.  
  
It hadn't rained for weeks, but it began to at half-past three. With the barest of warning, sheets of water began to fall, like planes of clouded glass.  
  
The deluge blurred the darkened outlines of buildings, sobering and drenching the few who were unlucky enough to be on the streets.  
  
Grease and grime washed off concrete, and into storm drains. Tokyo's inhabitants slept on, unaware.  
  
Some, however, were not yet asleep.  
  
**********  
  
He slipped in the door silently. Over the many years of his existence, he had learned stealth.  
  
It had become second nature to him. He had been loud, even brash, in his youth. However, over countless years, he had discovered that certain degrees of discretion were necessary to get by in a world that had forgotten that your kind existed.  
  
He looked in the bathroom mirror, brows furrowing slightly as he toweled rain from his hair.  
  
Another night had brought another fruitless search. In truth, he was taking his time. His mission wasn't getting any more urgent. It had been years since he had been in Japan, and he had taken the opportunity to explore. It was funny that, even with the changes time brought, this place still felt like home.  
  
Once he was ready for bed, he crept to his futon and slipped under the covers.  
  
"Don't you get tired of lurking and wandering around all night? What are you going to do when you find him?"  
  
The quiet voice that broke the silence was young, female, and a little disapproving. At the faint sound, a pair of glowing eyes blinked open, quickly adjusting to the deep black of the apartment.  
  
The sound of pelting raindrops was thick, but soothing.  
  
"Go back to sleep, Hanako," he replied, unable to summon much irritation.  
  
She yawned, obviously tired, and yet the talking continued. "Uncle, you need a hobby. How do you feel about macramé? The place could use a plant hanger or two. Or even just a plant." It was dark, but he had no difficulty seeing her disgusted gesture. It was hard to argue with her point.  
  
Not, of course, the suggestion that he should take up some hippie-fied crafts project, but that the place was disturbingly empty.  
  
They had only just moved into a new flat, and it still smelled of construction. The room was completely empty save for two futons, one on each end of the room, and a low table to eat off of in between.  
  
She had insisted that they wait to move into their bedrooms, as she was still unfamiliar with the place, and hated to wake up disoriented. At the moment, he was regretting his capitulation.  
  
He peered across the room, trying to gauge whether or not she was serious about the tasteless plant-hangers, and then felt rather than heard her weary sigh. "And when you find him? What then?"  
  
His low laugh echoed lightly off the blank walls. "When I find him, I've got a blade with his name on it." His nose twitched slightly, and his lip curled up slightly in distaste, exposing the point of a fang to the darkness.  
  
The smell of recently dried plaster was hardly pleasant.  
  
"There's also that old flea-bitten furry thing," he added after some contemplation. "I could strangle him with it. That would teach him to take me seriously."  
  
"You definitely need a hobby," the girl concluded, voice slurred and indistinct. "How about crochet?" She yawned the question, and seemed to cling to consciousness by sheer force of will. "You could cover the apartment with doilies."  
  
He rolled to his side with a grunt. "Shut up and go back to sleep."  
  
She did. He didn't.  
  
**********  
  
At that very moment, two others lay in their homes, deaf to the muted rush of rain. They curled in their beds, limbs loose and warm, completely motionless except for the quick twitch of dreaming eyes, and the small starts of slumber.  
  
By morning, the downpour would cease, leaving everything with a shine of newness as the streets started to teem with human life once more.  
  
Some things, however, never washed away completely. Water, as harmless as it seemed, had the power to wear a path in stone.  
  
Breathing softly between parted lips, two slept on.  
  
In mind, if not in body, they were far away.  
  
**********  
  
Fingers slid teasingly over her ribcage, smoothing the hem of her cotton tank top up over her warm skin. A heated mouth moved slowly over her, barely skimming her curves as she shifted, aching.  
  
His hands were strong, warm, and almost too careful. It often began this way, before the exaggerated gentleness faded and firm, urgent pressure took its place.  
  
For now, however, the hands on her inner thighs lingered lightly, applying only enough encouragement to urge them apart. She capitulated with a sigh, convinced by the butterfly whisper of eyelashes on her belly, and the warmth of his breath washing over her navel through the cold night air. The silk of his sleeves settled lightly on her bared skin.  
  
The sound of her name, in taut syllables, was accompanied by the spasmodic clutching of his fingers at her hips. With a sudden movement, he jerked her roughly towards his waiting mouth.  
  
She bit back a cry. They were always quiet, always sneaking away from the others. Screams were forced down, dying into a hitch in the breath. Moans were muffled by the back of her hand, or better yet, released into his parted lips.  
  
At the moment, however, his delicious mouth was far away from hers and otherwise occupied. He nipped lightly at the skin of her inner thigh, tongue lingering over the small birthmark there.  
  
Her fingers stroked feverishly over his scalp, running unsteadily through his hair as her hips leapt reflexively against his face. She felt him smile faintly against her before he pulled back slightly, rubbing the cool tip of his nose against flesh that was suddenly too hot, and too sensitive. Her head tilted back. She was barely aware of her teeth sinking into her lower lip.  
  
His breathing became louder as he shifted between her thighs.  
  
Her teeth bit harder into her lip, as she tried to remain quiet. She tasted the faint rust of blood. Muscles tensed, rolling gradually beneath her skin like shifting desert in the wind. Her nails dug slightly into him wherever she could reach, scratching lightly over the curve of his slowly moving jaw.  
  
She became faintly aware of a burning, tingling sensation in the soles of her feet, and the low rumble he was making in his throat. The fingers of one hand clenched and pulled in his hair, while her other cupped his neck, shaking. He made a low sound of approval, and she felt him rock his pelvis unsteadily, flexing in reflection of his mouth's movements.  
  
She released her hold on him, pressing her wrists against the rough ground. Briefly, she registered that her hair would be full of leaves again, but she couldn't bring herself to care.  
  
She was too overwhelmed. The bite of her nails in her palms, the warmth of his still-clothed shoulders beneath her bare thighs, the cool silk of his hair falling against her skin, and the knowing flicks over her wet, needing flesh all combined to drive practical considerations from her mind.  
  
Balanced on the precipice, she writhed, trying with all her might not to scream. Even the warm tears running slowly down her temples seemed to push her further, like a liquid touch. Her fingers, still pressed back against the grass, ached to feel him.  
  
He wouldn't let her, though. Not until he was finished. Afterwards, he would let her do as she pleased. She made a soft sound of anticipation in her throat at the thought as she watched him.  
  
From a distance, through the roaring of blood in her ears, she saw him raise his head, licking his glistening lips. Fierce, hooded, golden eyes in a flushed face met hers, and then his voice rasped a command against overheated skin, his hands raising her hips as he pressed his panting mouth against her once more.  
  
"Come for me."  
  
The words, thick with arousal, and the caress of his lips and breath made her shiver and squeeze her eyes shut. She pressed her palm to her mouth, trying to muffle her moan.  
  
Then, he leaned down. It was too much, too much. . .  
  
She bit her palm so hard that it bruised.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome suddenly sat up, chest heaving, thighs slick, and muscles still twitching. Dimly, she noticed that she had somehow jammed her hand into her mouth and bitten the hell out of it. She removed it and winced, both at the pain, and at the sight of the twin crescent indentations left by her teeth. Sweaty strands of hair clung to her neck.  
  
"Holy crap," she mouthed in shock, before falling back on her pillow. She shifted against the covers, but the caress of the flannel pajamas on her still sensitized skin sent a new set of delicious shudders through her. An image appeared before her closed eyes as sensation raced through her once more, a name springing to her lips, as burning golden irises appeared before her vision.  
  
"S-Sesshou?"  
  
She whispered the name, and the taste of it on her tongue alone made her body clench, as though it recognized something that her mind didn't.  
  
Kagome stilled, drowsiness turning her limbs to jelly as she curled back into her soft bed.  
  
"I won't be able to look him in the face ever again." Kagome tugged the sheet over her blush at the memory of exactly where his face had been a few moments before. "Oh, gods. . ." she repeated breathlessly.  
  
Then, her eyes widened slightly in confusion. It was a little weird that he was dressed like some kind of odd warrior prince in her dream, and that he'd had his stripes out and outlandishly long hair.  
  
Really soft hair.  
  
Mmm.  
  
Nice hair.  
  
Nice everything, really.  
  
Later, she knew that she would be embarrassed, but just now, she couldn't seem to summon the energy. Actually, Kagome was mildly annoyed that he had remained fully clothed.  
  
She felt so warm and languid, but the ache of loss lived behind her eyes.  
  
Stretching like a cat, she rolled over, and was soon asleep again.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshou blinked his eyes again, half-asleep, and was greeted once more with the cold white plaster of his ceiling.  
  
It was a lot less interesting than what he'd been seeing in his mind's eye a few seconds prior.  
  
She had been hot and wild beneath his hands and lips. He could still taste her, like a warm honey sea on his tongue. He could smell her on each raggedly exhaled breath.  
  
He trembled slightly. The soft, smooth cotton of his sheets felt rough on his naked skin, abrading his flesh in ways that made his breath catch helplessly in his throat. His skin was slightly damp with sweat, and the heat in his blood was unbearable.  
  
Every muscle wound tighter.  
  
Unbeknownst to him, the stripes on his skin were a deep, livid scarlet.  
  
Sesshou closed his glowing eyes, and saw her again.  
  
The thin, dark tank-top she wore was shoved up. Her body arched like a bow, bare heel digging into his back. Her palm muffled her cries as she threw her head back in passion, dark hair tangling in the grass beneath them.  
  
He groaned. Gods, he couldn't stand knowing how good she tasted, and then waking up like this. Somehow, he knew her touch. He knew what she liked to do to him.  
  
Sesshou licked his lips, and then cursed low in his throat at being pulled from the dream before she could make good on the promise in her dark eyes.  
  
His hand slid slowly beneath the covers, lightly drawing down his chest and circling his navel.  
  
She was shy at first, fingertips slightly rough from fighting feathering like birds' wings over his skin.  
  
His fingers slid lower, following the line of soft hair over his belly. He found that he was already pulsing heavily with each beat of his heart.  
  
His breath rasped in his throat, and he bit back a groan.  
  
In his mind, he saw her, the way she nibbled her lip in concentration and embarrassment at the way he watched her. He could see the way she bent over him, flushed with want.  
  
Neck straining, Sesshou's head turned into his pillow, hand moving steadily beneath the sheets.  
  
Her dark hair spilled over his stomach as she looked into his eyes. He never understood how she managed to appear so innocent even when doing this. He could hear her pulse thundering through her body with renewing desire.  
  
He released a hungry growl, and was distantly surprised at the sound, but even that could not penetrate his fever. He could smell her, new arousal mixing with the scent of her climax in the cold air.  
  
His control was in shreds and his body was shaking.  
  
"Kagome," he gritted between his teeth, imagining her her hands restraining his jerking hips.  
  
Then, he felt the slick heat of climax spill over his fingers and the tense, ridged muscles of his stomach.  
  
Her scent, taste and touch faded slowly like ghosts, leaving him alone with nothing but the smell of his own release.  
  
Sesshou lay panting for a few moments. He opened his eyes reluctantly, reaching for a tissue.  
  
Afterwards, he fell back on his pillow, once more staring at the ceiling.  
  
He couldn't remember ever having such a dream, or one that extended upon waking through his will alone.  
  
It was like the others. The whole experience felt as though it were woven with the texture of reality. The scent of leaves, the sensation of the grass beneath him felt more like memory.  
  
He'd known her name when he'd first seen her, but dismissed the incident from his mind, thinking it inconsequential, but now. . .  
  
She had strange abilities, as did he. Sesshou had never set much store by coincidence.  
  
Somehow, he had memories of Kagome.  
  
"Shit," Sesshou murmured quietly into the slowly lightening room.  
  
**********  
  
"Shit, Kagome! It was horrible. Words can't even describe the depths of angst that my date induced."  
  
Kagome was on the phone, having finally managed to get Yuka on the line. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the drapes in the living-room. Souta was, as per usual, riveted to the television and inflicting bloody death on some pixilated characters with outlandish costumes.  
  
Kagome, on the other hand, was lounging on the couch and studying her recently polished toes with a critical eye.  
  
The shade was all wrong, but she'd only been able to find the one bottle of deep, bloody red in her rather disorganized desk drawer. It was just too dramatic, and not really her style at all. Kagome had never been a histrionic gothette type. Her toes might as well be carrying a neon sign saying, 'Look at me! Now that you have, go away and die in a pit of your own angst!'  
  
Kagome blinked. It would probably have been good to stop over-analyzing her pedicure, and start paying attention to the topic at hand: specifically, the pit of angst in which Yuka was currently stewing.  
  
As if to underline that particular thought, Yuka wailed. She actually wailed, in the way professional mourners in some countries were paid to wail when some eminent person passed on. Kagome was impressed by the sheer lung capacity involved. It was good that Yuka had a career option in another field, if the whole nursing thing didn't work out.  
  
She swung her legs up onto the couch and relaxed into the cushions.  
  
"Well," she responded consolingly, "it can't have been that bad. So you had a less than great date. I'm sure that things will improve-"  
  
The volume of Yuka's reply forced Kagome to remove the handset from her ear.  
  
"Less than great?!?" Yuka was practically howling in anguish. "Gods, Kagome, you have no idea! If I had to give my night a genre, I'd be torn between horror and science fiction!"  
  
Kagome blinked again, and returned the phone to her ear at the end of Yuka's strange and cryptic outburst. "Well," she ventured, "I guess I don't have to ask why you changed your number then. I was a little surprised when I dialed and was forwarded to 'Shinichirou's Costume Barn.' Oh, by the way - if you're interested, they are apparently having a grand opening sale."  
  
Yuka let out a shaky laugh. "That is just too perfect! I hope that Luke guy tried to phone me. Not that he really needs any assistance in that regard. If Darth Maul hadn't shown up, I'd have killed him with a breadstick."  
  
Yep. The laughter had definitely escalated into a cackle. Kagome pulled a blanket around her with a shiver. Yuka's hysteria was giving her chills. That had to be the sort of sound a person made immediately before they turned an automatic rifle on their former workplace.  
  
And. . . Darth Maul?  
  
"Well, what happened?" Kagome asked cautiously.  
  
Yuka paused, obviously fumbling for words. "It was. . . like there was a camera crew hiding somewhere. It was just that weird; it almost felt like it had to be fictional, and some anonymous person was behind the scenes, pulling my strings for their own sadistic kicks. I've never been so humiliated in my life."  
  
Yuka took a breath at that point and tried to replenish her oxygen supply before she dropped the bomb. "He was dressed in a Star Wars costume. He introduced himself as Luke Skywalker."  
  
Kagome was struck speechless, and bit her lip to hold her laughter inside. Something told her that Yuka would not appreciate the comedic value of her experience. "Hm," she observed, recovering. "Well, I guess you won't be going on a date for a while, then. Take time to, er, recover, like mental health days, or something."  
  
"Whatever," Yuka said dismissively. "Revenge is the only recovery I need. I'm getting right back on the horse. After I replace my cousin's shampoo with depilatory cream, of course. She set me up, in both senses."  
  
Kagome didn't want to embroil herself in what promised to become a bloody vendetta, but she couldn't refrain from asking, "Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"  
  
Yuka was silent for a moment, and Kagome got the distinct impression that she was exercising immense control over herself. "Kagome," she said calmly. "He had a light-saber."  
  
"Oh. . ." The syllable was rich with awed horror.  
  
"He called the waiter. With the light-saber."  
  
Kagome winced, feeling a pang of sympathetic humiliation. "Ohhhhhh."  
  
"Which remained in his hand for the entire evening."  
  
"I see," Kagome conceded slowly. "I will comment no further on your quest for justice, as I cannot comprehend the extent of your pain or psychological scarring."  
  
"Damn right," Yuka replied, sounding marginally more cheerful. "But, anyway, I'm going out with a guy from one of my classes. He's kind of cute, definitely smart, and I've never seen him in a Jedi robe. I think I may be onto something here. There's nowhere to go but up, right?"  
  
Kagome voiced her encouragement, but couldn't get over the feeling that Yuka had just jinxed herself.  
  
**********  
  
He should have known that he wouldn't be able to get an afternoon of uninterrupted reading done.  
  
Sesshou tossed the collected works of Locke onto the coffee table when he was disturbed by a knock on the door. He had been listening to Charlie Parker and trying to get through some course material. The thick volume landed with a decisive thud.  
  
When he pulled the door open, he was unsurprised to find Hojo standing on the doorstep with his hands in his pockets and a big smile on his face.  
  
After Sesshou's parents had died, Hojo had come by more frequently to see if he was doing all right, and would natter on incessantly about whatever he'd read in the news, or whatever movie he had last seen. The green-eyed young man merely laughed at Sesshou's insults, just as Sesshou tolerated Hojo's intrusion into his personal space.  
  
Hojo was a specialist in the art of distraction, and had no qualms about inflicting his company on Sesshou on a regular basis. Hojo liked to claim to be Sesshou's link to the common man. Sesshou usually parried by saying that Hojo was, in fact, the Missing Link - citing that there was no other explanation for even the faintest interest in American Football.  
  
Despite Sesshou's occasional annoyance at the impromptu visits, by the time Hojo left, he always seemed to feel a little better.  
  
"Hi!" the dark-haired young man exclaimed, closing the door behind him and then following Sesshou back into the living room. Once there, Hojo flung himself onto the armchair with a happy sigh, before turning to the Sesshou with a hopeful smile. "How's it going? What have you been up to, best friend?"  
  
Sesshou looked suspiciously in Hojo's direction as he sat back down on the couch. Obviously, he wanted something. "You're not exactly subtle."  
  
Hojo looked abashed for a moment, and tapped his fingers along with the music for a moment before leaning forward. Sesshou hid his amusement. The request for a favor would be forthcoming in three, two, one-  
  
"Um, I was just wondering. You know Higurashi, right?"  
  
Sesshou was brought up short. Yes, he did know her, he thought to himself - possibly even biblically.  
  
Of course, it would probably be better not to mention that to Hojo.  
  
"Hn," Sesshou replied.  
  
"Well," Hojo went on, "do you think that maybe you could come shopping with me? Maybe you could help me find something she'd like."  
  
Sesshou shot Hojo an extremely skeptical look.  
  
"What?" Hojo asked, defensive. "I like to get her stuff. It's what I do. It's my thing!"  
  
Sesshou looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "It occurs to me that the gifts haven't worked very well for you so far. Maybe you should find a new thing."  
  
Hojo looked up in consideration, and Sesshou could almost see a light-bulb flare above the other boy's head.  
  
"You know what?" Hojo began pensively. "I should have thought of this before. You're a girl magnet! You should lend me your wisdom. What's your secret?"  
  
Sesshou's face betrayed none of his unease. He had no desire to become Hojo's advisor in this matter. In fact, he realized with a twinge of guilt, the ideas he had about Kagome in particular were not of the kind he was at all inclined to share.  
  
Hojo remained blissfully oblivious to his friend's train of thought, though he continued to watch him with a strange look of concentration. Suddenly, he sat up straight. "Aha!"  
  
Sesshou merely looked at him, completely expressionless.  
  
"That! That must be it," Hojo mused. "You don't do anything to attract girls. You hardly ever talk to them. You rarely even look at them. You have this whole inscrutable man of mystery thing happening. Gods, it's true," he exclaimed with wide eyes and an air of realization. "You're a cool, enigmatic bastard!"  
  
Sesshou merely raised an eyebrow, causing Hojo to gesture towards him with a nod.  
  
"See? Calm. Collected. Almost no emoting whatsoever," he observed in an admiring voice.  
  
Sesshou scowled slightly. He was starting to feel like a bug under a microscope.  
  
Hojo merely pointed again. "And, when you do respond to stimuli, it's almost always a negative reaction!" He nodded again, rubbing his chin scientifically as he examined Sesshou, lost in speculation. "It probably makes girls want to crack your stony façade. Plus, my sister says that you dress well," he concluded in a sage tone of voice.  
  
Sesshou blinked. When Hojo looked as though he was about to point at him and make another pronouncement, Sesshou hurriedly cut him off.  
  
**********  
  
"So," Yuka cut in, using the casual tone that Kagome had long ago learned to fear. "Have you run into Sesshou lately, by any chance?"  
  
"No," Kagome retorted, almost choking with embarrassment. Yuka couldn't help but notice the strange note in her friend's voice.  
  
"Hm. Right."  
  
Kagome scowled. She hated it when Yuka used the 'hm. right.' The two words seemed calculated to make her spill any and all her secrets. How was it that Yuka could make such a brief utterance so heavy with skepticism? Why, god, why?  
  
It was like thumbscrews or something.  
  
"I had a dream about him," Kagome blurted unthinkingly. She'd never held up well under pressure. "It was dirty." She groaned inwardly and almost smacked her forehead when she heard what came out of her mouth.  
  
This definitely qualified as oversharing.  
  
Yuka snickered with quiet glee. For much of her high school tenure, Kagome had been hung up on a violent, two-timing, man-whorish secret boyfriend. Yuka had always thought it a little strange that a girl who had never had much of a poker face had managed to stay close-lipped about that whole matter. Usually, all you had to say was "Hm. Right," and she would spill faster than spaghetti on a five year old.  
  
Yuka had disapproved. Kagome had even let slip that the guy's brother had been even more violent. Obviously, that family had issues by the bucketful. Yuka thanked the gods daily that Kagome was done with that crowd. She wouldn't be at all surprised if she found out that their delinquency had bee detrimental to Kagome's already poor health.  
  
Well, Yuka thought to herself, at least Sesshou seemed reasonably normal. He was quiet, and probably on the conventional side. Yuka herself found him a bit standoffish, but if her suspicions about Kagome's dating history were correct, normal and boring might be just what she needed.  
  
"Well," Yuka posited, "maybe you SHOULD hang out with him outside of dreamland, you perv. You like him, right?" At the dead air on the phone line, Yuka rolled her eyes slightly and smiled. She could practically hear Kagome blushing. "Come on," she prodded. "It's not like it's an alternate lifestyle choice or anything. You're a girl, he's a guy, and you get along. He's easy on the eyes, he doesn't think he's Luke Skywalker. . ." she coaxed. "Trust me, the rest is cake."  
  
Kagome was quiet. For some reason, an image had sprung into her mind, fully formed. In it, Sesshou was waving a glowing blue sword around, as a nearby Yoda-like creature hunched over a weird-looking walking stick. Kagome smiled briefly before her brow crinkled in puzzlement.  
  
Sesshou wasn't dressed in any Jedi-like raiment though, unless Lucasfilms costume department had started to stock large fuzzy things. And why would she picture him with long white hair and armor? Was she developing some kind of fetish for long hair? It was bad enough that he was starring in her night-time XXX feature presentations, but what was that about?  
  
She also couldn't figure out why he would be stepping casually onto a painfully croaking Yoda.  
  
Kagome sighed and shook her head to clear it. Her brain was weird.  
  
**********  
  
Giving Hojo dating advice was weird.  
  
"Have you tried acting normally around her?" Sesshou asked pointedly. "When we were in that restaurant, I noticed that you seemed sort of. . ."  
  
He trailed off meaningfully. There really wasn't any tactful way to say it.  
  
Hojo seemed to wilt, sagging into the leather armchair. "I just can't," he said sadly. "I've tried, but I get so nervous. I babble. It's kind of gross, too. Sweating occurs," he finished morosely.  
  
Sesshou looked a little perturbed at that bit of information.  
  
With a gusty sigh, Hojo wilted even further. Sesshou couldn't remember when he'd last seen him so dejected.  
  
"Maybe I should give up," Hojo mumbled. "She probably hates me or something." Leaning his head back against the leather, he stared at the ceiling for a while, trapped in silent horror. "What if she thinks I'm just a dumb, sweaty freak?" Hojo whispered. Something in his expression made it clear that, if she did, his world would come to an abrupt and painful end.  
  
Sesshou shook his head slightly, as Hojo surfed away on a wave of destructively low self-esteem. "I doubt she hates you. Maybe if you just hang out with her more, it will help. . . with the talking, and. . . and the sweating," he added with a slight look of distaste.  
  
Gods, Sesshou thought to himself. How had he gotten into this situation? He was discussing perspiration, for god's sake.  
  
He was starting to rue one fateful day fifteen years ago.  
  
On that day, a brown haired kid had come over to the house with a really awesome collection of toy trucks. The two boys had been left to their own devices, while their mothers had tea together.  
  
The five-year-old Sesshou, accustomed to spending his time alone, had been torn. On one hand, he had never seen so many toy trucks, and really wouldn't have minded playing with them. On the other hand, he had not yet finished his latest project of building an impenetrable lego fortress.  
  
Sesshou had never really played well with others. The cheerful, talkative owner of the trucks significantly reduced their appeal.  
  
Then, Sesshou had spotted the fire engine. It had had sirens, lights, and everything.  
  
When Hojo's keen eye had seen the pale-haired boy's barely concealed fascination, he had said with a smile that Sesshou could borrow it for as long as he wanted.  
  
Sesshou, feeling slightly awkward, had accepted the offer. After all, it was not as though he would have to play with the other boy. Then, during the course of the afternoon, Hojo had crashed several of his own toy trucks and suggested that a fire engine was required at the scene of the accident.  
  
Sesshou had concurred.  
  
During the week that followed, Hojo decided that Sesshou should keep the fire engine. In the interim, Hojo had had a painful altercation with the stove. His subsequent discovery that he disliked hot things - most especially fire - caused him to amend his future career choice from fireman to astronaut.  
  
That would have been the end of their brief association, if Hojo had not called on Sesshou for help. One sunny afternoon, Hojo had materialized at Sesshou's door with a desperate look in his eyes.  
  
Through Hojo's terrified babbling, Sesshou had managed to ascertain that Hojo's older sister planned to dress the little boy up as a pretty, pretty princess. Hojo hadn't known where else to turn. All the other kids in the neighborhood were already in Haruka's pocket.  
  
"Spies!" Hojo had exclaimed hopelessly. "She has spies everywhere! Once, I ran away and they turned me in. She made me wear a fur hat and eat cat food." At Sesshou's puzzled look, Hojo had miserably whispered, "Mom won't let us have pets."  
  
Sesshou, at the mention of such atrocities, had calmly hidden Hojo in the toy storage closet. Then, he'd opened the front door to find an irate eight- year-old girl, fiercely clutching a ruffled pink dress and a large assortment of barrettes and hair ribbons.  
  
Sesshou had withstood Haruka's interrogation with unshakable composure, coldly informing her that no defected princesses or cats were in the vicinity.  
  
Haruka had been discomfited by Sesshou's immunity to her intimidation tactics. Though she had her suspicions that he was lying when he told her that he did not know where, or even who, Hojo was, she found herself backing away. For some reason, she had felt that challenging this kid would be foolish, even though he never came out very much. He seemed like a leader type, and Haruka did not intend to put herself in a situation where she, at the age of nine, would be humiliated by a five-year-old.  
  
When Sesshou had opened the closet door to release the refugee, a surprising sight had greeted him. Hojo, eyes squinted in concentration, had been constructing a rather impressive watchtower for Sesshou's ever- expanding lego fortress.  
  
"The walls are really thick. No one will be able to get in. You need watchtowers though, and another gate," Hojo had observed, searching for a eight-dot piece in Sesshou's lego bucket. "If you don't have a watchtower, how will you know if the army coming isn't just friends coming to visit you? You can have a secret gate where you sneak people in when Haruka wants to dress them up."  
  
Sesshou had looked thoughtful for a second, while Hojo grinned and carefully moved the fortress from the closet to the well-lit hallway. The dark-haired boy studied it, leaning down. " There's lots of trees! What is the plastic wrap going around the wall supposed to be?"  
  
Sesshou had been a little startled. No one besides his parents had ever expressed any interest in his fortress before, and his mom had been totally faking it. He could tell because she kept saying 'hm yes dear,' the way she did when dad talked about the car. "Barriers," he had replied succinctly. "There are nine of them."  
  
Hojo had looked back at him, bursting with curiosity. "That's a lot. How do they work?" The dark-haired boy bent to the fortress, brows furrowed in concentration. "Oh, do you have any juice? I like grape."  
  
After that, the two boys had gone into the kitchen, spilling large amounts of grape juice as they discussed all the things that a proper fortress ought to have.  
  
It was true, Sesshou thought fatalistically. His boyhood weakness for fire- trucks, as well as his participation in a secret, princess-rescuing underground had made this predicament inevitable.  
  
Hojo lifted his chin, looking a bit more like his usual cheerful self. "My nerves wouldn't be so bad, if I could get used to being around her," he exclaimed, bringing Sesshou's musings to an abrupt end. "I'll just expose myself to her more often."  
  
"Expose yourself to her?" Sesshou questioned. "If you think that's going to win girls over, then you do need advice," he commented sardonically.  
  
Hojo couldn't contain his laughter. "Not like that, weirdo," he countered with a grin.  
  
Sesshou ran a hand through his hair, which seemed to be sticking up again. He exhaled. At least Hojo seemed to have crawled out of his dark pit of depression.  
  
"I know! We can all do something together! You, me, Kagome, and Yuka. Then, I won't be as nervous." Hojo beamed.  
  
This friendship thing could really be a hassle, Sesshou thought darkly. However, at the sight of Hojo's pleased expression, he found himself making a sound of agreement.  
  
Hojo, relieved, picked up the book Sesshou had been reading, careful not to dislodge the pen that marked his friend's place. He started to flip through it, tapping a foot to the music that was still playing. "Have you been reading this all morning?" he asked curiously.  
  
Sesshou nodded in affirmation.  
  
"It looks pretty dry," Hojo remarked, before replacing it on the table and leaping to his feet. "You need a break. I have money, I'm hungry, and you're coming with me to eat."  
  
Sesshou hesitated.  
  
Hojo looked at him in disbelief. "Jeez. You have to eat sometime. Mom keeps telling me that you're wasting away. Also, you're a workoholic."  
  
Sesshou blinked. "That's right. I'm addicted to workohol," he replied sarcastically. "You, more than anyone, know that I hardly slave over my schoolwork. Also, your mom thinks that anyone under three hundred pounds is wasting away." Sesshou's mouth quirked up slightly in amusement. "Case in point: your dad. I actually heard her tell him he was 'thin as a rail,' the last time I was over."  
  
"Oh, shut up," Hojo said cheerfully. "He just happens to be big-boned." It seemed that almost anything could roll off Hojo's back, especially when he was thinking about food. "You like ramen, right? Oh, you know what would be good? We could get okonomiyaki. . ."  
  
Sesshou rolled his eyes, but smiled faintly and followed Hojo nonetheless.  
  
**********  
  
"Uh, sure?" Kagome replied, having ceased to follow the conversation. She couldn't remember what the question had been. Yuka had been waiting expectantly while she herself had spaced out.  
  
Had there even been a question?  
  
Yuka huffed impatiently. "Well, then, if you like him, make a move! Or you could play it cool. He didn't seem too into that forward girl with the big hair."  
  
"Yeah," Kagome agreed wryly, "if by 'not too into,' you mean he was pretty much willing to gnaw his own leg off to escape from her. But then again, who would like her? She's a bit much."  
  
Kagome heard a world-weary sigh from Yuka's end of the line. "Oh, so young and innocent," she drawled in the most jaded tone Kagome had ever heard. "Obviously, you have never seen what happens when a person is caught in desperation's cruel jaws."  
  
Kagome removed the receiver from her ear and looked at it in disbelief for a moment before replacing it. Yuka sounded like some embittered, cigarette- holder-waving femme fatale with a "buy 9 drinks and get the 10th one free" punch card.  
  
"Uh," Kagome interrupted when it sounded like Yuka was about to sigh again. "Stop that. You're freaking me out."  
  
"Young one, you have so much to learn of the world. . ." The words were sighed heavily. Kagome pictured Yuka blowing a smoke ring and taking a gulp from a highball class before gesturing for another.  
  
"Jeez, Yuka! If I recall correctly, I'm a month older than you!"  
  
Yuka ignored that factual tidbit as usual, to Kagome's amused dismay. What a drama queen.  
  
"Little one, you may take my hand as you make your first naïve steps onto a minefield of losers, carnies, and jedi-wannabes. And no," Yuka announced with a dramatic pause, "suicide is not the answer. . . especially not puddles, as they are too shallow to actually drown in. Koi ponds, however, are a completely different story."  
  
When it appeared that Yuka's informative and uplifting speech was over, Kagome sighed in exasperation. "I really think you should take a break from dating," she advised earnestly. "See what it's doing to you? This can't be healthy."  
  
Yuka made a sound of resigned agreement. "I know, but if I stop now, I'll probably just give up and start getting cats." The statement resounded over the phone lines like a knell of doom.  
  
Kagome pictured Yuka with her hair in a straggly bun and twenty cats, and shuddered. "You won't suddenly become a cat-lady. You just had some bad luck, that's all. One day you'll meet someone."  
  
Yuka perked up. "Someone smart? Someone funny and attractive? Someone who doesn't have a vestigial tail, massive gambling addiction, or grotesque emotional problems that would make Freud curl into a fetal ball?" she asked with exaggerated hopefulness.  
  
"Of course!" Kagome replied evenly, though she was wincing inside.  
  
Who the hell was Yuka meeting these days?  
  
"Well, I still think you should spend some time with Sesshou," Yuka interjected without missing a beat. "We don't all have good-looking overachiever types interested in us. Some of us get Luke."  
  
"Well, I don't really know him, and. . ." Kagome trailed off before continuing. "Both he and I are pretty strange." She almost snorted at the understatement. "You really have nooo idea. Plus," Kagome went on in a reasonable voice, "I have no intention of dating anyone, with my memory issues and all. I feel really unsettled."  
  
"Hm. Right."  
  
Kagome scowled again. Why was Yuka torturing her like this? There was only so much "Hm, right," a girl could take before she went stark raving bonkers! It was cruel and unusual! It was totally uncalled for!  
  
Oh, hell.  
  
Kagome caved under Yuka's highly evolved interrogation tactics. "He does seem like an overachieving type, doesn't he? He's probably good at everything." She bit her lip. "And with looks like that. . . and he's not dumb, or smelly, or irritating. He doesn't have an annoying voice, or a monobrow. He can dress himself. . ."  
  
"Scary, isn't it? Yuka commented sarcastically. "If only we all had your problems." She sighed loudly into the receiver. "Well, in the minus column, he doesn't seem like a heavyweight in the social skills department. And if he's too intimidating, what about Hojo? He's comfy and familiar."  
  
"I dunno." Kagome was quiet for a while. "But then there's me. I've got that. . ."  
  
She'd been about to say something about the time travel her family had been discussing with her, but quickly thought better of it. "Uh, I've got that . . . brain damage," she finished lamely. "And I'm just. . . well, me. You know."  
  
It was hard to casually slip info about fighting demons in the feudal age into a conversation, Kagome noted.  
  
"He seems to like the magical you, though. And about the brain thing, it's not like anything but your memory was affected by that," Yuka continued. "You don't drool. I've checked."  
  
There was a brief silence.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
At Kagome's indignant tone, Yuka laughed. "Anyway, I should get going. I have to get to the store so I can pick something up."  
  
Kagome didn't ask what Yuka would be purchasing, but something the gleeful note in Yuka's voice made Kagome suspect that Lina's hair would be considerably thinner after her next shampoo.  
  
**********  
  
Hanako straightened her braided pigtails as she walked through the aisle of the grocery store, peering closely at the labels of the items on the shelves. The brightly colored packages almost glowed under the aggressive fluorescent lighting. "Uncle, do you think we need-"  
  
She stopped and turned around, only to find that she was talking to thin air. She wasn't in the mood for this, considering she hadn't really had much sleep last night.  
  
Where had he gone? He was so easily distracted. If she had to drag him out of the ramen aisle again, he was going to get an earful.  
  
She charged down the brightly-lit aisle, taking a sharp right at the rack of instant curry mixes, and was brought up short by the sight that greeted her. She shook her head.  
  
He really did need a hobby.  
  
Her companion was staring out the window with almost frightening intensity, peering between two big signs advertising rock-bottom specials on shiitake mushrooms and daikon radishes, respectively.  
  
Following his line of vision, she found that he was watching two men sitting at the window of the okonomiyaki restaurant across the street. "Are you checking that guy out? Honestly! I have to admit that he's completely hot," she said grudgingly. "Can't really blame you there."  
  
Her uncle looked at her with obvious, open-mouthed horror. "WHAT?!?" he practically shouted. "Not you, too!"  
  
An old lady behind him cast a disapproving glance at him before huffing, shoving pickles into her basket, and then moving on with her nose in the air.  
  
Hanako looked at him blankly before snapping to attention. "Oh! It's that Sesshoumaru person, isn't it?" She nudged him aside with her shoulder to get a better view. "Just my luck! I could really go for him. He just looks. . . well, he looks so nice! And, may I add," she murmured as the man got up to call the waitress over, "that that's definitely a good ass to have."  
  
The man at her side looked at her with mingled panic and confusion. "Stop talking about people's asses! Are you sure you're feeling well? I've never heard anyone say he looks 'nice' before."  
  
The girl frowned before her expression cleared and she exclaimed, "Oh! You mean, the other one? I'm talking about the happy-looking one. He's cute. The icicle isn't really my style. Something about him just screams, 'fun is bad, so I never have it.' Does he have some kind of facial paralysis? He looks like he's watching paint dry."  
  
With a sigh of relief, her shopping companion slumped slightly against the window.  
  
"You really do need a hobby, you know," she muttered before grabbing his sleeve and dragging him down the aisle towards the produce section. The fact that the basket he held was overflowing with Ramen and cookies had not escaped her notice. "All this lurking is even less healthy than your diet. We can't live on instant food and takeout, you know."  
  
"Yeah, well," he muttered, turning his nose up. "If I've survived this long without learning to cook, I say it's a completely useless skill."  
  
**********  
  
When the waitress brought the freshly cooked platter of fragrant, filled pancake to the table, Hojo noted that she was making what could only be called googly-eyes at Sesshou. As always, Sesshou merely nodded dismissively, and then gave her one of his 'you are wasting approximately 1 square foot of floor space - begone!' looks when she showed no sign of leaving.  
  
If anything, Hojo noted, this seemed to intensify the googly-factor. Surreptitiously, he pulled a small notepad and pen from his pocket, observing his friend with a keen eye.  
  
Sesshou was still glaring. The look was escalating from 'begone' to 'Antarctic rays of freezing death.' Hojo rubbed his chin and started jotting brief notes on the paper.  
  
Finally, unable to withstand Sesshou's well-honed skills of people- repulsion, the waitress reluctantly turned and slowly headed back towards the kitchen. Sesshou, with a disgusted sniff, turned to a scribbling Hojo and balked.  
  
"We've known each other since we were children, and I consider you a friend."  
  
Hojo beamed and nodded at that uncharacteristically warm statement, but still didn't look up from his notepad. Quickly, he flipped the page and resumed writing.  
  
"Nevertheless," Sesshou continued darkly, "if you don't stop that, I will be forced to kill you."  
  
Hojo stopped and sighed, placing his notebook and pen on the paper on the wobbly, melamine-topped table between them with a resigned look. "I'm just trying to figure out your secret. Why do the girls flock to you? I mean, it's really kind of unfair. You're so mean to them, and yet they flutter like doomed moths." Hojo wrinkled his nose a little as Sesshou confiscated the notepad and tossed it into a neighboring, unhealthy-looking yucca plant. "Hey! That had my grocery list in it!"  
  
"I'm sure you'll survive," Sesshou commented dryly. "You can get it back after we're done, and you've promised to lay off the naturalistic observation."  
  
Hojo grumbled under his breath and picked up his chopsticks, snapping them apart and rubbing them together to rid them of the splinters. "Yeah, whatever. I think the world wants to know. It's so weird! When we were in school, you totally ignored all the girls who liked you. It didn't seem to matter though. I heard that you had so many girls making you lunches that you could've started a catering table."  
  
Sesshou frowned. "I did nothing to encourage it. They were just idiots who didn't know anything about me. I had my own lunch. It was wasteful and unnecessary." He shrugged slightly and took a bite of their king-sized okonomiyaki. It was very good, despite the fact that the restaurant itself looked rather dilapidated. Bits of linoleum curled up at the edges, and the tables were scarred from years of brisk business.  
  
The fact that the waitress was hovering nearby in the hopes that they would need their tea refilled was not lost on Hojo.  
  
Hojo snickered. "See? You're snobby and weird, and often like a grumpy old man. I totally don't get it." He made a snorting sound. "You don't have time for anybody. 'No man is an island,' huh? Donne obviously never met anyone like you. You're not just any island, either. You kind of remind me of Alcatraz." Hojo took another bite and chewed blissfully before swallowing and gesticulating with his chopsticks. "If I weren't excessively friendly, thick-skinned, and apparently masochistic, you probably would never have bothered to make any friends at all. What on earth is it about you that makes the girls swoon?"  
  
Sesshou made a noncommittal noise. "I'm not quite sure. I've never been able to understand why a person would chase after someone they know nothing about."  
  
The sharp, meaningful look Sesshou was sending Hojo did not go unnoticed.  
  
"Hey. I know Higurashi," Hojo replied defensively. He laid his chopsticks down and leaned forward. "I went to school with her for years. She's really sweet, even if she wasn't around a lot because of her health and stuff."  
  
"Hm," was Sesshou's only response.  
  
Hojo frowned and dug into his food with renewed appetite. "Are you trying to warn me away or something? Did you find out something awful about her?"  
  
Sesshou raised an eyebrow. "No. I'm just saying that you've liked her for so long that you may not have a balanced view of her."  
  
Hojo swallowed. The waitress bustled over again, with the teapot. She quickly retreated at Sesshou's annoyed look.  
  
"Look," Hojo began. "I know you don't like many people." He paused. "Okay, you don't like any people. I don't expect you to like her, but I do, so could you please just give her a chance? You don't have to love her or anything. Just tolerate her and cut the glare ratio by 50%. That's all I'm asking."  
  
Hojo could tell by the pissy look on his friend's face that he was not pleased at the request. But, by god, if he wasn't nice to her, Hojo was totally going to go medieval on his ass. His wrath was fearsome, though he rarely exercised it.  
  
"Yep," Hojo said in a tone of steel he seldom used. "You're going to at least try to be nice."  
  
Sesshou started chewing on the okonomiyaki in a particularly bloodthirsty way. It seemed that the aura of pissiness surrounding him was strong enough to keep even the enraptured waitress at a safe distance.  
  
"Well," Hojo gulped. "Maybe nice isn't the word. Just try not to terrify her okay? While you were getting ready to leave your house earlier, I called Yuka's place. We're going for coffee with her and Kagome later!"  
  
Sesshou scowled.  
  
"Remember? Earlier you said you would hang out with us, so I wouldn't get so nervous. Please?" Hojo winced at the pleading note in his voice. "I'd really like to interact with her in a non-dorky way for once! I mean, maybe she would like me if I didn't act like such a spacey tool."  
  
Sesshou's glower intensified.  
  
Hojo made an unhappy noise, dropped his chopsticks and pressed his forehead into his hand. Sesshou hadn't looked this irritated since his dearly departed mother had forced him to accompany Hojo to Haruka's ballet recital. When they had gone backstage to wish her luck, the pale-haired boy had been dog-piled by a large group of preteen wannabe-ballerinas in frilly pink tutus.  
  
Now that Hojo thought about it, having a pissed-off Sesshou and Kagome in the same room was going to do nothing for his nervous babbling and sweating issues.  
  
**********  
  
Oh, gods, no. She felt like she was going to break out in a sweat.  
  
Kagome gaped in open-mouthed disbelief. "WHAT!?!?!?"  
  
Souta's head snapped up so quickly at her shout that Kagome thought he must have gotten whiplash. He muttered something about crazed, high-strung siblings interrupting PlayStation concentration under his breath, and then settled back into the couch, retrieving the controller that had gone airborne at his sister's unexpected outburst.  
  
She patted his head apologetically, clutched the cordless phone with white fingers, and beat a hasty retreat to her room.  
  
"You WHAT?!?" Kagome repeated at a lower volume once she the door was safely closed.  
  
"Hojo phoned my house. I told him we're meeting him and Sesshou for coffee later tonight."  
  
"Yuka how could you say I'd go without even asking me?" Kagome moaned as she sat down at her desk and slumped forward. "I can't even look at Sesshou right now. I swear, I'm going to die."  
  
Yuka grunted indelicately. "I've already said yes, so have your attack of the vapors now and get it over with. You have a few hours before we leave. Like it or not, we have plans. And don't even think about being in your pajamas when I get to your house. I'll drag you out even if you've got an exfoliating mask on. Also," Yuka added slyly, "I kind of have a date tonight. I'll be leaving about half an hour after we meet them. Hope you don't mind!"  
  
Kagome's fingers clenched. It suddenly seemed like an amazing stroke of luck that she had considerable skill in the martial arts.  
  
"Yuuuuuka," she purred dangerously. "You are going to be meeting so many eligible doctors in the very near future. They can write their phone numbers on your full-body cast - after I've beaten you within an inch of your life!"  
  
"All righty then!" Yuka chirped obnoxiously, apparently unconcerned about her impending appointment with Kagome's fists. "I'll catch you later! Be ready to go at eight-ish."  
  
"But-" Kagome's forehead hit the desk with a quiet thud when she heard the 'end' beep of Yuka's cell-phone. She remained that way for a few minutes, feeling completely exhausted. Dealing with lunatics did that to a person, Kagome thought darkly.  
  
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.  
  
"Come in," she called, sitting up and raising a hand to massage the back of her neck. Yuka was stressing her out. She could have sworn she didn't have that knot 5 minutes ago.  
  
"Hey!" Souta beamed at Kagome. Obviously, he had gotten over the game loss he'd incurred after she had shrieked and caused his controller to go flying. He bounced up and down slightly. "Are you busy right now?"  
  
Hm. This, she thought, was a little on the suspicious side.  
  
Kagome cocked an eyebrow and shook her head. "No. That doesn't mean I'm going to do your chores for you, though, so don't even ask!"  
  
Souta scowled. "I wasn't going to ask you to! Really. I mean, not today. I was just thinking, you got into that fight a couple of days ago, right? And you have all these abilities, but you were always over on the other side of the well, and I just. . ."  
  
Kagome looked at Souta in amusement. "You want to see my moves? Well, I don't know. I tried before to do it again, but I guess it was just instinct that night." She bit her lip at his downcast expression. "But, maybe we could go into the courtyard and give it a try-"  
  
She almost fell over as Souta grabbed her arm and practically dragged her down the stairs and out the front door.  
  
"Ow!" Kagome whimpered as she stubbed her toe. "At least turn on the porch- light. It's getting dark out here!"  
  
**********  
  
It was dark, but then it always was.  
  
The creature had been in the dark so long that time meant nothing. It had only the barest grasp of how many years had gone by. It only knew that, a long time ago, everything had been different.  
  
It had been powerful.  
  
It had had plans for a glorious conclusion to everything. When the moment had come, it had only found that time had stopped.  
  
Being in the world had been different, then. Earth had crumbled in its hands. Flesh had caved beneath its touch.  
  
When it had reached out, the world had moved.  
  
Now, it was dark, cold, and constantly out of phase. What had once been hands faded through matter, and what had been a mind had gradually filled with madness and blind hunger. When things had been different, and it had had form, it had been jealous and ambitious. It had struggled to achieve a purpose, and to fill the constant hunger.  
  
It had to consume. It had to be transform itself into something stronger, something better.  
  
Events hadn't cooperated, however. It was what it had been, low and crawling. Perhaps it was even lower now than it ever had been. At one time, it had been human.  
  
Then, it had become something else, and now, starvation led to a different sort of transformation.  
  
Others had gotten in the way.  
  
They had thought themselves rid of it.  
  
A very long time ago, it had tried to suck what it needed from the world. Now, it could not do much. When it had first been cast down, it had tried to make the earth feel its weight again. There had been some success, but small successes were meaningless. The span of time was too great, as was the gulf between this existence and the one it had had before. This world was muddied, covered in a shroud through which the creature could not see.  
  
Now, it curled beneath concrete. Now it hid itself in trees.  
  
It faded into the earth, and was spit back out. In the cold of the night, and in the ice of time, it twisted.  
  
It stilled now, as something flickered in the distance.  
  
Was this what hunger was? Old strength, long believed lost, bled back into its awareness. It moved blindly, led only by a shadow of memory that forced the other shadows aside.  
  
It had felt this recently. Had it been only days? It had been lost for so long, but yes. Days ago, it had felt this, and it had followed the lingering trace of it, through earth and stone. It had seen, though seeing was unnecessary.  
  
It remembered this power.  
  
It could only be HER.  
  
If the creature's strength had not been consumed completely by its mindless writhing, it would have hissed.  
  
**********  
  
Souta shivered, wide-eyed, as the glow around Kagome's body faded.  
  
"Whoa," he said in a hushed, dazed voice. "That's insane! Let me find you some more!"  
  
Kagome shook her arm out, perusing the pile of shattered lumber with satisfaction. "Okay," she said thoughtfully. "I just have to remember how it feels. Kind of fuzzy, like static cling." She closed her eyes and focused her mind. When she opened them again, she looked down and was pleased to find that she was casting a faint light on the darkening pavement.  
  
Souta was fairly twitching to run off and find more planks. They had extra lying around from when Grandpa had decided to repair the storehouse. He was really paranoid about what he liked to call 'the family treasures,' and what Souta liked to call 'unidentifiable, organic objects in jars.' He had the sneaking suspicion that, if he looked around in there long enough, he might find a human brain.  
  
"No more destruction!" Kagome exclaimed nervously. "First of all, we have to clean this stuff up. Mama will be annoyed if I just leave the courtyard littered with splinters. Then I have to try and get some homework done."  
  
Souta sighed, but went to the shed to get a broom anyway. Kagome came along and pulled their old wheelbarrow into reluctant service. "Sure," he grumped as they started to clear the debris. "When you need me to get your assignments for you because you're in the feudal age, that's no problem at all! But then when I want you to do one little thing, like show me some magical kung-fu, you're SO BUSY."  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Yeah, maybe when I can actually recall how I did things, I'll do a big demonstration for you. By kicking your butt!"  
  
Souta sniffed, crossed his arms, and turned his nose up. "You're so immature, tumor-girl."  
  
The creaking of the wheelbarrow ceased.  
  
Silence reigned, broken only by the chirp of a lone cricket.  
  
"WHAT did you just CALL ME?!?"  
  
With a startled yelp, Souta dropped the dustpan and sprinted for the house, waving the broom around behind him defensively as he choked back his laughter.  
  
It looked like Kagome was about to make time for another demonstration after all.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshou arrived on the scene only a few minutes after Hojo did. When he walked into the warmth of the café, he saw that the other boy had already appropriated his favorite booth in the corner by the window. The coffee shop was a sort of neighborhood establishment, and was close enough to his place that it was stupid to do anything but walk. The shop strove for comfort rather than pretentiousness. The seating was plush, and a pool table was near the back wall with a big Wurlitzer nearby.  
  
Hojo came here a lot. It seemed like he was already through his first cup of coffee, as well.  
  
"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Sesshou asked, gesturing towards the rather large, half-empty cup.  
  
Hojo shifted nervously in his seat as Sesshou sat down with his own drink. The dark haired man pushed the sleeves of his navy blue sweater up his forearms. He smiled sheepishly. "I thought if I occupied my mouth with coffee, it would significantly reduce my babbling abilities."  
  
Skepticism radiated from Sesshou's every pore. "It's a stimulant. Don't say I didn't warn you." He paused and regarded Hojo in silence for long seconds. "Nice sweater," he remarked ironically. "I hope you didn't buy that."  
  
A slight frown crossed Hojo's face. "I know it's ugly, but I put everything in the wash this morning, so I had to dig into the dreaded drawer of fashion mistakes." Hojo twitched slightly and took another sip of coffee.  
  
Oh no, Sesshou thought as he noticed the small movement. The horror had begun.  
  
"It was either this sweater, which Grandma made, or a terrifying Christmas shirt with reindeer on it. After she went to visit Haruka and her husband in America for Christmas, it was like she came back filled with pure evil. After that eyesore, I really appreciated the restraint she exercised when she gave me this."  
  
Sesshou eyed the sweater critically. "Are you sure you chose the right shirt? The sweater's really. . . lumpy."  
  
"Ohhh, trust me on this one. The Christmas shirt has blinking lights," Hojo said decisively. "Plus, the reindeer are really abnormal-looking. They look like wiener-dogs. All in all, that garment should not exist in this or any other dimension." With that, the dark-haired young man drained his coffee cup and returned to the coffee bar to get a refill, as a flicker of movement outside the window caught Sesshou's eye.  
  
**********  
  
Yuka dragged Kagome ruthlessly towards the entrance of the café.  
  
"Come on!" she griped. "I don't have time to haul you everywhere, young lady. We're already late because you HAD to push me on that pajama and face- mask issue. Look. I'm sorry I said you would come, but the damage is done. I didn't think you'd have this much of a problem with it."  
  
Kagome scowled rebelliously and wiped a remnant of Avocado and Elderflower Clarifying Masque from her neck.  
  
Yuka had stormed Kagome's room when Kagome had answered the door wearing pink pajamas and an obstinate expression. Everything afterwards had been a blur. Now, all Kagome knew was that she was freshly scrubbed, dressed for casual fun, and being frog-marched down the street.  
  
Just three minutes prior, she had been in her pajamas and a robe, tightening her pores and settling in to watch a stunningly mediocre made- for-TV movie called "Tears of a Swan: A Tragic Figure Skating Story."  
  
Now, she was going to be forced to have coffee with a guy she had bonded with over ass-kicking, and also had a naughty, naked, sweaty dream about.  
  
His friend, who still seemed to like her, would also be in attendance.  
  
How had things come to this point? Kagome looked accusingly at the sky, trying to find meaning in a world that suddenly made no sense.  
  
Her life totally sucked.  
  
"Welcome to hell," Kagome mumbled as Yuka opened the door of the café and ushered her inside. "Population: me."  
  
Yuka snorted, as a smile made its way across her face and she waved at Sesshou. "Has anyone ever told you that, in some respects, you are very immature?" she hissed between her teeth.  
  
Kagome grunted sullenly. "Sure. Then, he called me 'tumor-girl,' completely destroying any credibility he had."  
  
Yuka didn't dignify that with a reply.  
  
Seeing their approach, Sesshou nodded slightly, and looked at Kagome. She stared at him for a moment, immediately turned red, and then tried to turn and walk away. Unfortunately, Yuka's iron grip prevented her escape.  
  
If Yuka didn't take up nursing or professional mourning, Kagome thought bleakly, perhaps she could find her niche in the field of criminal detention.  
  
As Kagome was occupied with uncharitable thoughts and avoiding Sesshou's eyes, Yuka shoved her towards the booth, released her once it became clear that bolting would not be an issue, and then approached the bar to order their beverages and say hello to Hojo. Kagome settled into the seat, and looked around the café more out of awkwardness than genuine curiosity. It was actually a nice place. If it weren't for the fact that tonight was going to be excruciating, she would probably like it there.  
  
She sighed loudly. Oh well, she might as well bite the bullet and say hello. She peered over her shoulder at where Yuka and Hojo were waiting for their lattes. Hojo waved. Kagome smiled, returned the gesture, and then turned back, leaning across the table slightly.  
  
"Hi," she greeted in a low voice, steeling herself enough to look him in the face. "How are you?"  
  
"Fine," he replied. Sesshou's scrutiny intensified to such a degree that Kagome felt like she wanted to hide. "What's wrong with you?" he asked abruptly.  
  
She could feel the flush crawling up her neck. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his, though the contact was so electric that it almost hurt. Her hands folded tightly in front of her as she let out a nervous laugh, and turned to stare out the window in hopes of a reprieve.  
  
"Um, nothing! What do you mean? Am I acting strangely or something?" Kagome's eyes were wide with dismay at the question, and a false, vacant smile was plastered over her face. He knew! He knew!  
  
Sesshou looked incredulous. "Point one: you're bright red. Point two: you keep staring out the window with a look of doomed hope on your face. Point three," he fell silent. Kagome blinked, turned her head to look at him, and watched him warily.  
  
Suddenly, Sesshou leaned forward. "BOO!"  
  
Kagome jumped two feet in the air with a choked yelp of terror.  
  
Sesshou leaned back smirked. "I rest my case."  
  
Kagome sputtered and slapped her palms down on the table. She rose from her seat slightly, nervousness fading. "You. . ." she trailed off, glaring. "I can't believe. . . That was MEAN!"  
  
At that second, Hojo materialized at the table with Yuka in tow, causing Kagome to fall back into her seat with a "Hmph!" of indignation.  
  
Hojo sat down next to Sesshou, and Yuka slid in on Kagome's side, sliding a half-sweet caramel latte in front of her. With a grateful look, Kagome put her cold hands around the cup and sipped, hiding her face from Sesshou.  
  
Hojo frowned at his friend, taking in Kagome's frazzled appearance. "Hey Kagome, what's new?"  
  
Kagome choked out a feeble, "Not much, how're you?" before hiding behind her mug once more.  
  
Hojo twitched slightly, spotting her complete refusal to even turn her head in Sesshou's direction. What on earth had happened? She'd been here for thirty seconds! Damn it! Sesshou had promised he'd be nice!  
  
Well, Hojo amended, he had implied that he would be nice.  
  
All right. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he hadn't said he wouldn't be nice, thereby allowing Hojo to think that niceness was not completely out of the question.  
  
Hojo poked Sesshou in the ribs with his elbow, and received a look of outraged dignity in return. "If this guy's being mean, don't take it personally. He's just hard to get to know. Pure snobby evil, some might say. I'm used to him, though. He grows on a person."  
  
Sesshou was making his disgust at Hojo's excuses plainly evident. The sight of the silver-haired man glaring murderously at the side of Hojo's head, as the brunet obliviously patted him on the back with a huge grin, was actually rather funny.  
  
Yuka swooped in to save the day. "So Sesshou, you and Hojo didn't go to high school together, did you?"  
  
Glaring at a person who wasn't facing you really wasn't very effective, Sesshou thought to himself. Sending one last look of death at Hojo's ear, Sesshou allowed himself to be distracted, and shook his head slightly. "No. We went to the same elementary school and junior high, though."  
  
When it became evident that Sesshou was not going to say any more, Hojo jumped in. "Yeah. I lived next door to Sesshou until a year ago, so we've known each other for ages."  
  
"So he grew on you, huh?" Kagome asked, turning to Hojo. "Would you say it was a moldy sort of growing, or a lichen type? Perhaps if you bathed in an anti-fungal agent, you could get rid of that little problem you have." Her helpful comments were immediately followed by Hojo's high-pitched yelp as Yuka delivered a kick beneath the table.  
  
Yuka looked at Hojo apologetically. "Sorry. I was aiming for her," she said with slight embarrassment, jerking her thumb to the side to indicate the inexplicably pissed-off girl next to her. A split-second later, Kagome let out an injured yelp, as Yuka sat back with a look of accomplishment on her face.  
  
Sesshou gave up on choosing someone to glower at, and settled on a more global disapproval approach. "I am surrounded by children," he said coolly as he sipped from his cup.  
  
"Yeah, right." Kagome crossed her arms. "Who's the one who yelled 'BOO' at me just a little while ago?"  
  
Sesshou ignored her.  
  
Hojo gulped the last of his coffee. Sesshou had yelled 'BOO' at Kagome? When had THAT happened, and why were they practically spitting at each other? He'd never seen Kagome get mad at anyone before. He'd actually thought that, if faced with Sesshou's irritation, she would clam up and be scared away like so many others were.  
  
Instead, she was on the verge of yelling at him. It was all very strange and off-putting, and Hojo sort of felt like he'd walked into a movie partway through. A really violent movie - Yuka's feet were sort of dangerous.  
  
Hojo was getting a headache. More coffee might help. Ignoring Sesshou's warning look, Hojo got up without a word, and returned to the coffee bar for a refill.  
  
When he returned, the animosity at the table seemed to have dissipated a little. He took a sip from his coffee, and then turned to Kagome. "So are you completely recovered now? I'm glad to hear from Yuka that you haven't been in the hospital for a while."  
  
Kagome's blush, which had faded, rapidly returned as she remembered the years of lies that had been fed to Yuka and Hojo. She couldn't help but feel guilty for duping them for so long.  
  
Yuka, watching Kagome, was convinced that Kagome was feeling sensitive about her long illness. She always seemed to get touchy about it.  
  
Sesshou, however, had different theories.  
  
"So," he began with dangerous curiosity.  
  
Hojo blinked at his friend's tone. Uh oh. This couldn't be good.  
  
"What sort of illness did you have exactly?" Those amber eyes scrutinized Kagome's face, seeming to miss nothing. Kagome quailed.  
  
Yuka's interrogation skills were nothing compared to this. If Kagome were a suspect in a murder case, this would be the point where she was looking longingly at the jug of water kept out of her reach, while a grimy looking man with five o'clock shadow told her he had ways of making her talk.  
  
Sesshou looked at the fierce grip Kagome had on the handle of her coffee mug, noticing some sort of odd mark on her palm. He filed that tidbit away for later scrutiny.  
  
Kagome didn't say anything, certain that he'd be able to tell if she lied. He probably could already tell that something was up, considering her rather limited lying skills. This disease thing was Grandpa's department, not hers! Sesshou already knew that she wasn't normal, but she wasn't sure she wanted him to know that she had jumped back and forth from now to the feudal age.  
  
Luckily, Hojo leapt in to rescue her. Kagome had never been so grateful for Hojo's fixation on her health than she was at that moment.  
  
"She's been really unlucky. There was the diabetes, and a very rare seizure disorder that is mostly found in the Amazon region. Oh yeah!" Hojo turned to Kagome, obviously trying to remember the extensive catalogue of ailments that her grandfather had given him. "A while ago you had malaria. And there was also the broken hip." Hojo shook his head sympathetically. "There were other things, but I can't remember off-hand. As I recall, you had a kidney failure when we were in high school, didn't you? And then there was the brain tumor that kept you away for almost two years. But let's not talk about this anymore, I bet you just want to forget about it all."  
  
Sesshou, throughout this litany of maladies, showed no reaction. He merely looked levelly at Kagome. She blinked, and then narrowed her eyes at him, setting her jaw firmly and then crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
Interesting.  
  
"Hn," he remarked, turning his attention to his beverage to make it clear that he would leave the topic alone for the moment.  
  
Well, Kagome thought to herself, she certainly seemed to have gotten all the blushing and embarrassment out of the way.  
  
She was annoyed at Yuka for dragging her into this. She was annoyed at Sesshou for putting her on the spot regarding her fictional diseases, and for being in her dream. She was even annoyed at Hojo for trying to defend her when she was a big fat liar who didn't deserve it at all.  
  
Damn it! She was annoyed at the world, and the world was going to pay!  
  
Yuka, feeling a shift in the wind, checked her watch. "Hey guys! I've got to get going. I'll talk to you all later! Wish me luck!"  
  
The short-haired girl winced as a sweet smile curved her friend's lips. "I hope your date goes as well as your last one did," Kagome said slowly, causing Yuka's blood to run cold at the sheer cruelty.  
  
"Tumor-girl!" Yuka accused, before practically running for the door.  
  
Sesshou and Hojo both wondered what had caused Yuka's strange outburst, and excessively quick exit.  
  
**********  
  
The creature moved quickly, following the fading trail of power. It was funny, how it sparkled and shone, winding in a gleaming road where she had gone.  
  
Slugs left shining trails as well, it knew. They drew themselves along on the ground, dragging on their bellies so slowly that time stopped for them. They left shining pieces of themselves behind.  
  
The creature understood slugs, but it did not understand HER.  
  
It looked through the window. She would not see it, because no one did.  
  
Windows were different now. They were smooth and hard, like ice refined a thousand times. As the creature looked through the window at the girl, she seemed to make everything around her sharp once again. Yes, things were brighter and more distinct. She was definitely the one.  
  
She was smiling. Near her, it saw two others. One of them was familiar, but unimportant.  
  
She was in a warm place, a place where people gathered. It could not go there. It would only be able to approach when she was between such places, just like the creature was between places. It faded into a crack in the pavement.  
  
It had no problems waiting.  
  
**********  
  
"Yuka doesn't have time to help me very often. She's working too. When I went to the peer tutoring office, I found out they are all booked as well." Kagome wrapped her hands around her coffee cup with a frown.  
  
Sesshou looked thoughtful.  
  
Hojo nodded energetically in sympathy. "Yeah, this time of year everyone's bogged down." His expression brightened. "Hey, what course is it? Maybe I can help you. I wouldn't mind, and I have some time." Kagome was amused at the strange, twitchy way Hojo was moving. He was practically bouncing up and down in his seat.  
  
"Um, it's first year calculus." Kagome made a face. "That's what I get for starting late. Blechh." She checked her watch. "Oh, just a sec. I should go call my house and let them know where I am. Yuka just kind of dragged me away."  
  
Sesshou watched silently as Kagome walked to the payphone near the counter.  
  
"Calculus? Damn. I didn't take that," Hojo commented thoughtfully. Sesshou noticed that Hojo was starting to twitch a little more frequently.  
  
With a look of dawning realization, Hojo turned to Sesshou.  
  
"Hey, you did a lot of the core math courses."  
  
Sesshou inclined his head slightly in response.  
  
"Do you think you could help her?" Hojo asked hopefully. Sesshou merely looked at him in that inscrutable way he had. "For me? I mean, it would be pretty easy for you, and you live in the neighborhood. Maybe you don't get along very well, but she really-"  
  
Hojo's mouth fell open as Sesshou inclined his head again slightly. Then, Hojo grinned widely - very widely, as caffeine had started to exaggerate all his motor operations. He was pleased, impressed, and more than a little touched. Sesshou really was taking this whole 'being nice' thing to heretofore unheard-of heights! What a guy.  
  
Sesshou looked more closely at Hojo and was disturbed by the glassy, twitchy set to his eyes. "Hey."  
  
Twitch. Twitch.  
  
Hojo's hand curled protectively around his recently refilled coffee cup. "What?" He asked defensively, looking from side to side as though he was about to be apprehended by the law. "What? What is it? What's bothering you, Sesshou?"  
  
The pale-haired man rolled his eyes. "Oh, gods. How many cups of that stuff have you had?"  
  
Hojo raised the cup to his lips and took a drink, looking intensely guilty. "Mmebyevn?"  
  
Sesshou's eyes narrowed dangerously. "How many have you had?"  
  
The dark haired boy laughed. It was not a good sound. "HEE! I mean, maybe seven? Or nine? But who counts these things, anyway? Don't you think that our current fixation on numbers and figures is a true indictment of the state of society today? Why must everything be quantified and analyzed? Can't a young and upstanding young man just drink as much coffee as he likes, without being subjected to what I think we could all agree is the third degree and should only be reserved for those of the criminal persuasion?" Hojo laughed again, nervously, and took another sip of coffee before setting it back onto the table.  
  
Reaching out, Sesshou took firm hold of the cup and slowly drew it away from Hojo. "No more. You've been cut off." Silently, he cursed himself. If he'd been paying more attention, he would have caught more of the warning signs.  
  
Unfortunately, the process of removing the coffee from Hojo's possession did not go as smoothly as Sesshou could have wished.  
  
"NOOO!" Hojo protested loudly. His grip on the cup tightened as he attempted to fight the confiscation. "You will have to pry my sweet coffee from my cold, dead fingers!"  
  
When Kagome sat back down, it was to the rather confusing sight of Sesshou and Hojo fighting over what appeared to be Hojo's cup of coffee.  
  
"You can't take it from me, you bastard!" Hojo exclaimed, holding onto the handle of the mug with one shaking hand as he swatted at Sesshou's head with the other. "I won't let you!"  
  
"Um. . ." Kagome reluctantly interjected. "What's going on?"  
  
Heaving a sigh, Sesshou explained. "Hojo's had too much coffee. I can't let him have any more. I've seen how he gets."  
  
As Sesshou was saying this, Hojo continued to swat ineffectually at the taller boy's head, leaving Sesshou in the undignified position of having to fend off the glancing blows with one hand as he pulled at the mug with the other. Kagome just watched, stunned into silence.  
  
Swat. Swat.  
  
"Oh, hi Kagome!" Hojo beamed at her from amidst the confusion. "Sesshou said he could tutor you if you want. He's being really nice tonight! It's sort of weird. Just a sec."  
  
Hojo stopped speaking momentarily so he could pool his concentration. As a result, he landed a slap on Sesshou's ear. He crowed in triumph.  
  
Sesshou scowled, gave up on blocking for a moment, and then smacked Hojo upside the head.  
  
"OW!" Hojo winced, and then gave in. "Fine. You can have my coffee - but I'm not going to forget this, and you. Will. Pay."  
  
Kagome quickly hid her smile behind her hand.  
  
A quirk of an eyebrow was all the response Sesshou gave. He quickly removed the cup from Hojo's reach, and leaned back against the upholstery in relief.  
  
"Anyway," Hojo continued without missing a beat. "Kagome. Sesshou can tutor you if you want. It's really amazing. He never helps anyone! Well, he likes me, but in general he's really misanthropic." Hojo's brow wrinkled slightly as he drummed his fingers on the table. "Maybe misanthropic isn't the best word, because he really doesn't like many plants or animals either. He just really doesn't like much of anything, but that's okay. It's like, part of his charm."  
  
Kagome looked at Sesshou, who wasn't looking very charming at the moment. "Are you sure he likes you, Hojo? Because he kind of has this look to him, like he might try to bite you at any second."  
  
Hojo blinked. Usually people couldn't tell when Sesshou was in the beginning stages of irritation. It was, after all, hard to read someone who had two facial expressions, and three on holidays. Most couldn't figure out that Sesshou was getting ticked off until it was far too late, but Kagome could.  
  
That was kind of odd.  
  
"Yeah! He gets like that when I annoy him! It's hilarious, isn't it? He goes all 'grrrr, begone, hapless peon.' I mean, okay. Let me try this." Hojo poked Sesshou in the ribs.  
  
Sesshou looked down his nose at Hojo.  
  
Hojo poked him again.  
  
Sesshou started to glare.  
  
Hojo poked him again.  
  
Before Kagome could blink, Sesshou grabbed Hojo's wrist, and in the iciest voice she had ever heard stated, "Stop or die."  
  
Hojo beamed at Kagome, who was trying not to laugh. "See? Isn't that WICKED?"  
  
Sesshou still had a shred of dignity remaining, so he ignored the sudden urge he had to bash his head against the wall. "I repeat," he said coolly, "I am surrounded by children."  
  
Kagome smiled. "So, is Hojo always like this after he's had coffee?"  
  
Sesshou looked to his left. It appeared that the subject of the question was no longer paying attention. Instead, he seemed to be bouncing around and trying to read the jukebox listings over a 20- foot distance.  
  
"Yeah, after as much as he's had tonight." Sesshou shook his head. "He really shouldn't be allowed to drink the stuff. It's like ADHD gone horribly wrong. He loves coffee though."  
  
At the name of his favorite drink, Hojo snapped back to attention. "I love coffee! It's my only recreational drug. I mean, except for that one time, but someone slipped that in my drink, I swear! I think it was Haruka. No one else would be mean enough to do that to me at my aunt's wedding. Boy, was that embarrassing! I mean, I can't even count the number of times my relatives showed the photos around. It's humiliating!"  
  
Sesshou raised an eyebrow at Kagome, who was watching Hojo's renewed twitching with an expression of horrified fascination. Slowly, so as to avoid drawing attention to the movement, Kagome moved the confiscated coffee cup farther out of Hojo's reach.  
  
"I think it's time for us to go," Sesshou pronounced as Hojo opened his mouth again.  
  
"Aww, but. . ." Hojo trailed off and looked longingly back towards the coffee bar.  
  
"Agreed!" Kagome interjected hurriedly.  
  
**********  
  
Both Kagome and Sesshou intended to walk home, since the café was in their neighborhood, and the train station was also on the way, so Hojo walked with them.  
  
The three of them hadn't even gone a block when Kagome felt a strange chill.  
  
She stopped walking and looked around. Sesshou, tugging Hojo to a halt, looked at Kagome with questioning eyes.  
  
"Did you feel that?" she whispered. Something told her that there was another presence here, but she couldn't see anything. She could just feel it, a heavy stillness. She knew this feeling. "Something's here."  
  
"What is it, you guys?" Hojo called. "Are we going to go do something else now?"  
  
"I don't feel anything," Sesshou replied.  
  
Then, Sesshou saw it. Kagome noticed a moment later.  
  
Shadows on the concrete were moving, but nothing else nearby was.  
  
**********  
  
Hojo couldn't figure out what was going on. One second, they had been walking. The next, they had stopped for no apparent reason. Now, both Sesshou and Kagome were staring at the pavement.  
  
Seriously, what the hell was going on?  
  
"Uh, guys, what the hell is going on?" he asked.  
  
They looked worried.  
  
Had someone littered or something? People were such pigs sometimes!  
  
Suddenly, there seemed to be a pool of black on the ground that hadn't been there before, and Hojo was pretty sure it wasn't litter.  
  
It was moving.  
  
"What the FUCK!" he yelled in disbelief, still tense from his caffeine overload. When he looked up again, his eyes widened at the sight before him  
  
"What the FUCK!" he repeated.  
  
Kagome was glowing purple, and Sesshou had these red stripes on his face. At Hojo's exclamation, the pale-haired man looked up.  
  
Hojo yelped. His eyes were yellow!  
  
"Hojo," Sesshou began quietly. It was a relief that he still sounded like Sesshou.  
  
Hojo's relief faded at his friend's next word.  
  
"Run."  
  
**********  
  
Something was wrong.  
  
Obviously, this situation was very strange and bizarre. Shadows were rolling around on the ground for no apparent reason.  
  
However, Kagome had a feeling in her bones. This was all wrong. She knew who this was, but couldn't remember.  
  
Or, more accurately she knew what this was.  
  
It was here for her.  
  
Kagome was already in a defensive stance, banking power in muscle and bone, but she wasn't prepared for what happened next. In a split second, the mass of shadows unfurled into a vague human shape, and then dove at her.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshou's senses weren't telling him anything.  
  
He could smell everything, and see everything around them, but he had had no sense of someone's presence. He could see the shadows, the form the thing was taking, but it was blurry and indistinct to his eyes.  
  
He lacked the predator's awareness that he had in his dreams, and back in the construction site.  
  
Whatever this was, it was fleshless and scentless. It didn't quite exist, and he doubted that it could be attacked physically.  
  
But whatever it was, it was attacking Kagome, and he could do nothing. Streaks of black bled from where the thing had flung itself upon her, moving to surround her and moving like snakes over her skin. Luckily, it seemed that she had thrown up a shield of some kind. She stood firmly, fists clenched, though her eyes were wide with fear and shock.  
  
Sesshou heard a muffled, hissing sound. The light spilling from Kagome's form intensified, and then he thought he heard an animal howl.  
  
Then, the darkness was cast out of her, faded back into the cement in fragments, and then started to collect once more. Sesshou's eyes followed the darkness as he caught Kagome's slumping body.  
  
Suddenly, as though it had made a decision, the mass began to move, sliding away from them over concrete like slick, black oil.  
  
"Shit," Sesshou cursed. "Hojo."  
  
Kagome met his eyes. "Meet you there. You're faster than I am, especially right now."  
  
Sesshou made a sound of dismissal, tossed Kagome over his shoulder, and followed the trail of black so quickly that light from the streetlamps didn't even strike them.  
  
**********  
  
Hojo was going back.  
  
It didn't matter that they were weird.  
  
They were his friends! He couldn't just run away and leave them with the weird shadowy things on the ground.  
  
It wasn't right.  
  
Besides, what if this was a job for overly caffeinated guy? Sure, perhaps Kagome and Sesshou could deal with it by glowing or looking stripy and evil, but what if they couldn't?  
  
Hojo was walking back in the direction he had come from, and watching the pavement very carefully, given recent events. When he saw the shadow heading for him, his eyes snapped wide.  
  
"Oh nonononono! This is way too creepy for me!" he exclaimed, panicking.  
  
When he looked up, he saw Sesshou streaking towards him with a rather irate- looking Kagome draped over his shoulder.  
  
Hojo shook his head slightly. Couldn't they just get along for one second? Was that really too much to-  
  
Then, something struck his chest.  
  
Hojo felt freezing rope sliding over his skin, and then he was locked away to watch from afar.  
  
**********  
  
Shit.  
  
Kneeling on the concrete, Sesshou angrily watched as the blackness sank slowly into Hojo's body. His hands brushed right through it. It seemed that he couldn't do anything but wait.  
  
Oh, no. The pounding of a small fist on his chest reminded him that he still had yet to release his hold on Kagome.  
  
"Shit!" she whispered, taking in Hojo's condition. The blackness was almost completely absorbed. She reached out, following her instinct. Perhaps if she could try using her strength to kick it out of Hojo, she could-  
  
Hojo sat up, eyes blinking open. He shook his head slightly, pressing his hands to his forehead.  
  
Sesshou looked at him closely. "Hojo? Hojo, are you all right?"  
  
When Hojo's head tilted back enough to see his eyes, Sesshou's stomach twisted.  
  
The eyes were black, seething with hate and centuries of pain.  
  
It wasn't Hojo.  
  
The thing that occupied Hojo tilted its head slightly and made a strange hissing noise. It coughed, and when it started to speak, it sounded like it hadn't done so for centuries.  
  
"S--" It paused, as though trying to remember a name. "Sesshoumaru," it said, inclining its head with mocking deference.  
  
Then, it turned to Kagome, and she moved backwards at the force of emotion in those eyes.  
  
"And YOU."  
  
Hojo's body got clumsily to its feet. "It is strange, to have flesh again," it said in its rough voice.  
  
"Don't get used to it," Kagome retorted. "It's not yours." Her voice was brave, but she couldn't prevent herself from taking another step backwards as it approached.  
  
The thing laughed, and the sound was like stones on a grave. "You, who took everything - you dare to say such a thing. I followed you. You leave your trail, like slime. This light you give. It disgusts me. I followed you, and it seems I am not the only one." Its eyes bored into Sesshou's for a moment. "The Western Lord, brought low. And, now, I as well. Low, crawling."  
  
Hojo's hand reached out as though to touch Kagome, and Sesshou seized its wrist before it could make contact.  
  
It hissed again. "I cannot hold the flesh for too long. I have not the strength, but soon. . ."  
  
It trailed off, eyes narrowing, voice roughening into a death-rattle.  
  
"I want it. I want it back."  
  
With that, a flood of black, like a flurry of soundless leaves, burst forth from Hojo's mouth.  
  
His body collapsed limply. Sesshou caught him by the front of his sweater before he managed to get a hold on his waist, lowering his friend slowly.  
  
Then, Sesshou looked down at his hand in dismay.  
  
Oops. He hadn't intended to produce any poison. It seemed that trace amounts had come out when he was worked up earlier. He eyed the front of Hojo's sweater with a glimmer of guilt. Well, he thought wryly. At least it was ugly to begin with. Hojo's arm was unmarked where he'd touched him earlier.  
  
Sesshou looked up at Kagome. "Are you all right?" he asked. She was still standing there, pale and shaken. "Do you know what that was about?"  
  
Kagome let out a shell-shocked laugh. "I don't know what ANY of this is about." The violet light that had surrounded her faded away slowly, as she pressed her hand to her face. "I can't remember anything after a couple of years ago. It's like. . . oh, forget it."  
  
"You weren't sick in high school, were you," Sesshou remarked dryly.  
  
Kagome shook her head. "I sure wasn't. It's a long story though."  
  
She looked up at him. "What's up with the 'Western Lord' stuff?"  
  
Sesshou shrugged. "Not sure." Carefully, he picked Hojo up and set him on his feet. "Hey. Hey, Hojo."  
  
Hojo let out a faint groan. "I'm not in bed. Why am I not in bed?" He squinted at Sesshou. "Shit Sesshou, did you get me drunk?" Hojo looked down at his chest with a frown. Had that ragged hole always been there?  
  
"Sweater wasn't always this ventilated, was it? I'm sleepy." With that pronouncement, Hojo promptly collapsed on Sesshou's shoulder and commenced the snoring.  
  
"I think it's safe to say that he'll be fine." Kagome grinned in relief. "Gods. I was afraid we were going to have to go to the hospital and ask them to treat him for possession."  
  
Sesshou closed his eyes and listened carefully. Hojo's breathing and pulse sounded okay. He just seemed to be tired.  
  
"All right," Sesshou murmured, tightening his grip on Hojo's waist. "Let's take him back to his house."  
  
**********  
  
She and Sesshou had been walking in the direction of both their homes for a few minutes, having brought Hojo back home. The poor guy had woken up when they had gotten on the train. He'd been a wreck, babbling about killer shadows and shiny people.  
  
Thankfully, halfway through the train ride, he'd fallen asleep.  
  
It hadn't helped that, before that, Keiko had boarded the train car with some loudmouthed young man Sesshou recognized from the Kendo gym. Keiko had taken a look at Hojo's shaking, drooling form, given the trio a superior look, and whispered something to her companion under her hand.  
  
Kagome had caught the words "fetish for mental defectives," and had seen red. Sesshou had had to hold her arm to keep her still. He wouldn't have minded a confrontation, but Kagome had been propping Hojo up, and he really hadn't thought it would be a good idea to let the guy plant his face on the floor of a train car. It just hadn't seemed hygienic.  
  
Kagome's brow creased as they walked. Before the attack, she had felt a shiver of recognition that someone inhuman was approaching.  
  
Now that she was aware of her miko powers, she noticed that she felt something analogous when Sesshou was near. The spine-tingling terror was absent, but it was nonetheless clear that he wasn't your average joe.  
  
Oh, yeah. She was all over it like Souta on a DDR dance-pad. He wasn't going to pull one over on her.  
  
"You're not human," Kagome stated succinctly.  
  
Sesshou stopped walking for a beat.  
  
"Really? I'm stunned," he replied in a voice dryer than the Gobi. "The knowledge that I can transform into an enormous white dog did nothing to tip me off."  
  
Kagome lurched to a halt, turned towards her companion, and pinned him with an intense stare. "You," she pronounced, "are a dog monster." She frowned. "A really sarcastic dog monster," she added under her breath.  
  
Sesshou blinked, and then exhaled in irritation.  
  
"Did you take time to think of the worst-sounding term possible, or did it just come to you?" Kagome looked mildly confused at his indignant tone. "I am incredibly not flattered."  
  
Kagome bristled, before they started to walk again. "Fine. Youkai. Demonic human-shaped creature. Whatever, Mr. Sensitive," she muttered.  
  
Sesshou shot her a sidelong glance. Two people could play this game. "Besides, what exactly is it that makes you think you are human? Give me some evidence here."  
  
Kagome was visibly taken aback. She turned a curious look on Sesshou, who seemed to be walking a lot closer to her suddenly. "What makes you think I'm not?"  
  
He shrugged, his arm brushing hers. "You don't feel like other people. You have power." Kagome blinked. "You also smell different," Sesshou stated bluntly.  
  
Kagome looked horrified, and hurriedly inserted some distance between the two of them. Sesshou couldn't help but smirk at her sudden self- consciousness. "Don't get weird. You smell perfectly fine."  
  
Sesshou mentally composed his acceptance speech for the understatement of the century awards.  
  
"Oh," Kagome said slowly. Then, she shrugged, looking thoughtful. "I feel like I'm human. I catch colds, and fall asleep in class. You were adopted, so your origins suspicious. I was born like a human. Mama can vouch for me. I'm a miko, so maybe that's why I seem weird." Then, she looked up at Sesshou, dawning realization written all over her face.  
  
He looked at her askance.  
  
"Oh, no," she said dispiritedly as her shoulders slumped. "I guess I'm supposed to fight you or something. . ." Kagome bit her lip and frowned. "I don't really know."  
  
She looked up at Sesshou's snort and saw him look up at the sky in exasperation.  
  
He groaned inwardly. When had all semblance of logic abandoned this conversation?  
  
"Why the hell," he asked through clenched teeth, "would you want to fight me?" His usual mask had been thoroughly dislodged by Kagome's sheer obtuseness. With a pained expression, Sesshou rubbed his temple. The girl was deranged.  
  
Kagome smirked and shrugged, leading him to believe that she was deliberately trying to drive him to the brink of sanity. "You know," she said lightly. "Since you're a bloodthirsty dog-monster and all. I feel honor-bound to defend the hapless citizenry from your wrath." Her eyes sparkled up at him.  
  
Sesshou scowled halfheartedly. "Stop calling me that!" he grunted, though he knew the effort was most likely futile. "You're being irresponsible. Shouldn't you wait until I actually demonstrate some blood-thirst before you attempt to kennel me with your mystical powers?" He infused the last two words with as much acid as he could muster.  
  
Kagome glowered at him, and his tone turned confident. "Besides," he added coolly, "you can't do anything that I can't. From what I saw the other night, I'm faster and stronger than you are." His strides lengthened slightly, putting Kagome in the disadvantaged position of having to hurry to keep up.  
  
"If anything," he concluded, "the only advantage you have on me is your ability to turn into a purple nightlight."  
  
He smiled slightly as he heard her huff in outrage behind him.  
  
"Ooooh," he deadpanned despite himself. "I'm so scared. I'm trembling." Sesshou was distantly aware that he was being immature, but he was unable to bring himself to care. Her reactions were just too hilarious. He could almost hear her twitching in anger. "Someone, hold me."  
  
Kagome seethed. He was mocking her, and using his super-demonic powers of irritation, no doubt. Oh yeah, she thought, his demon ass was going down.  
  
Not in that good way, either.  
  
Her arm shot out and pulled him to a halt. "I'm not a nightlight!" she exploded as she started to glow, brimming with righteous anger.  
  
Sesshou looked down at her. She was breathing a little heavily, eyes throwing sparks, and her warm hold on his wrist seemed to scorch his skin.  
  
Sesshou's eyes narrowed.  
  
Her hold on his wrist WAS scorching his skin!  
  
He shook free of her grip and glared at her. "That hurt," he bit out, rubbing his abused extremity and frowning.  
  
"Purple nightlight, huh? Put that in your pipe and smoke it," she pronounced with a triumphant nod. Then, she started to look sheepish, and it wasn't long before the mind-numbing guilt set in.  
  
"Sorry," she said softly. "I wasn't thinking. Are you okay?" Sesshou glared at the top of her head as she grabbed his hand and hovered over it, trying to get a glimpse of her handiwork in the darkness. "I didn't really think that would do anything. It didn't work on whatever got Hojo, so. . ."  
  
"Go test that on someone else," Sesshou retorted, tugging his hand away from hers and examining the skin there. "What am I, your guinea pig?"  
  
The guilt faded slightly from Kagome's features. "Okay, point me towards the nearest youkai, and I'd be happy to," she returned. She looked at her shoe. "I'm really, really sorry," she mumbled, toeing awkwardly at a crack in the pavement.  
  
Sesshou let out a long-suffering sigh before turning and starting towards home once more, giving her sleeve a tug. "Fine," he stated reluctantly. "I concede that in our inevitable battle to the death as mortal enemies, I may be slightly inconvenienced by you."  
  
Sesshou noticed that his mortal enemy, during his gracious speech, had once again taken his hand in hers to search for horrible disfigurement. At the lack thereof, she let out a sigh of relief before allowing it to fall back between them, still wrapped in hers.  
  
Gods, Kagome thought with a grin. What an ego. "You'd better believe it, doggie. The minute I hear that someone's been killed in a lethal game of fetch, I'll be the least convenient person you've ever met." She swung their hands for emphasis.  
  
The corner of Sesshou's mouth twitched slightly. "You already are," he remarked acerbically, prompting a glare from Kagome.  
  
When the two of them reached Kagome's door, she started digging through her bag for her house keys as the security lamp flicked on. She winced slightly, and Sesshou caught a glimpse of the strange mark on her palm. He'd seen it earlier, but forgotten about it.  
  
Sesshou blinked and quickly reacquired her hand. There it was, a livid bruise. His eyes narrowed. They were definitely teeth-marks.  
  
He suspected that he knew exactly how they had gotten there.  
  
Kagome had gone still as stone as he looked at her palm, and jerked it away as soon as the panic-induced paralysis wore off.  
  
"How did you get that bruise?" Sesshou asked silkily.  
  
Kagome's face deepened rapidly into a very beetlike shade. Something about the way he was looking at her told her that he knew very well how she'd injured herself. If he did know, she really didn't want to know that he knew. She also didn't want him to know that she knew that he knew that she knew. . .  
  
Or something.  
  
Kagome was getting a bit confused.  
  
"Uh, never mind that," she blurted out. "It was just an accident. Yuka has a cat. It likes to bite me. You know how it is, with cats and stuff. They can really, er, bite."  
  
She unlocked the door and stepped back quickly before the dream flashback slideshow could get any more advanced, because she suddenly couldn't think of anything but how he had felt.  
  
Being around Sesshou was really hazardous to her peace of mind.  
  
Was it her imagination or was he leaning forward and sniffing her? Kagome turned even redder.  
  
She looked up to see his eyes narrow slightly. They looked brighter somehow. "I see," he said slowly.  
  
Kagome fervently hoped that he didn't.  
  
"Well," she said awkwardly. "Could you call me tomorrow and let me know how Hojo is doing? And, uh, if you still don't mind helping me with my math, then you can let me know when you're free and stuff."  
  
She quickly scribbled her phone number on the back of a sales receipt at his nod.  
  
"Great. Goodnight," she said as she handed him the slip of paper.  
  
He stepped forward slightly and cocked an eyebrow as he plucked the paper from her fingers. He traced the bruise on her hand lightly with the tip of a finger. "Pleasant dreams."  
  
His voice was low, but she heard him with perfect clarity.  
  
Kagome's jaw dropped in horror. Then, she ran into her house and shut the door so swiftly that she caused a breeze.  
  
The corners of Sesshou's mouth turned up slowly. There was no doubt in his mind that she knew exactly what he meant.  
  
"Got you," he murmured into the darkness.  
  
**********  
  
Once Kagome had washed her face, brushed her teeth, and changed into her pajamas, she sank into her bed with a relieved sigh.  
  
Damn. Today had really taken it out of her. Her eyes slowly drifted shut, and the various sounds of home soothed her. She didn't want to think about why Sesshou knew about her dream. She didn't want to think about the thing that had possessed Hojo. She just wanted to sleep.  
  
Then, a loud crack of thunder jolted her awake. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked out the window.  
  
The sky was completely clear. That was strange.  
  
Then, a loud voiceover kicked in. "All About Storms: an EduTV Special!" Cheapo keyboard theme music began to play.  
  
Kagome got up, slid into her slippers, and bumped loudly down the stairs to find Souta sitting in front of the TV with several tins of coffee, and a notebook in his lap.  
  
"Souta," Kagome seethed. "Why on earth is that so loud?"  
  
"Well, I kept falling asleep when it was quieter," Souta explained with a big, cheesy smile.  
  
Kagome smiled back as sweetly as she could through the blinding urge to strangle.  
  
"Okay, different question. Why NOW? It's midnight! I need to get up tomorrow!"  
  
Souta shrugged. "My report's due tomorrow. The library was out of the books I wanted so I have some videos to fill in the blanks."  
  
Kagome sighed. She grabbed the remote from the table, and lowered the volume to reasonable levels. "There. I'm going to sleep now. Don't turn it up."  
  
"Yeah, have fun with that," Souta replied distractedly in between gulps of coffee.  
  
When Kagome slipped back into bed, she could still hear the TV.  
  
"A hurricane occurs when masses of air come in contact with one another. One mass is warm, while the other is cold."  
  
It wasn't loud enough to keep her awake. She curled beneath the covers and smiled.  
  
"The low pressure area slides down the sides of the high pressure area. The warmer air rises, and the cooler air falls."  
  
Warmth stole over her, and she closed her eyes, listening to the low, classy educational voice-over as sleep slowly claimed her. Right before she fell asleep, she saw a pair of cool golden eyes.  
  
"They swirl in and around one another, creating the beginnings of nature's strongest storm. "  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note:  
  
Special thanks go to Kitty Kei, Akai-chan, Scorpion Ocean, and Tsukitani for beta-reading and giving me advice about rating.  
  
Kitty-Kei rocks because she sent me a ton of Naraku info! And Tsukitani rocks because I drafted her into beta-ing and then I got this HUGE thing back with tons of comments. It melted my heart, and that's tough because it's made of reinforced steel alloy.  
  
I am so excited about writing the next chapter, you don't even KNOW. It will be insane. Or maybe it's just me that will be insane. Or you, if I continue to write this slowly. But hey, if that's the way the cookie crumbles I can't do much about it, unfortunately.  
  
Thanks so much to everyone who has left a review as well. You turn my eyes into big pink hearts, and my fingers into typing fingers. It's like this freaky magic.  
  
Credit for the voiceover goes to the Air: Virgin Suicides Sdtrk: "The Word 'Hurricane'." I cut it up to suit my purposes.  
  
Oh, and if you want to read about Yuka's dates in the first person, check out "Yuka Wars." It's a side-story type thinger. 


	12. 10 The Sin

This Mess We're In  
  
Chapter 10: The Sin  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own.  
  
Rating: This version of the story is R. See MMorg for an NC17 version.  
  
Summary: Kagome's back in the present, and she's about to meet a guy named Sesshou. What happened in Sengoku Jidai? Neither of them know yet, either. 2 stories in 1, present and past. Kag/Sess.  
  
Chapter Summary: Let's get serious! Some chunks of plot fall from the sky. Bad things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. Then, good things happen to good people, but confusion ensues.  
  
Spoilers: I've been hopelessly AU-ed at this point. This is a diverge/future from around episode 90 or so. Anything up to that point, be warned for spoilers to be safe, since I can't actually remember when stuff happens.  
  
Soundtrack (tracks available on my website):  
  
(see cue marks)  
  
Pedro the Lion - Indian Summer  
  
Nightwish - Lagoon  
  
Radiohead – Street Spirit  
  
My Bloody Valentine - Sometimes  
  
*****  
  
--- Sengoku Jidai ---  
  
**********  
  
A storm was gathering.  
  
Kikyou stilled and looked up at the sky. The warmth of the sun on her face belied a truth that she felt to her very bones.  
  
Intuition solidified to certainty inside her, and she urged the soul stealers that carried her to quicken their pace. Their flight path, usually languid and convoluted, became blindingly quick and direct. They sensed death, and rushed to feed on it.  
  
A massive and sinister energy was converging with speed at some point south of her. The lure of the youki drew the soul-stealers, but something different was drawing Kikyou. Something tugged at her like an unbreakable thread.  
  
The further south she traveled, the less hollow Kikyou felt. The crackle of life she had felt before was stronger now. It animated and moved her. Kikyou felt like she was waking up from a long, dark sleep.  
  
She would go south.  
  
It was a simple coincidence that others were headed in the same direction.  
  
**********  
  
[cue Indian Summer]  
  
That morning, Kagome woke up to the usual symphonic clang of pot-abuse. Like most mornings before, Kagome's initial reaction was to shove her head beneath her unzipped sleeping bag in an attempt to hold off the inevitable. It was amazing how one could learn to sleep through an aural apocalypse, she thought hazily.  
  
Something, however, was different on this occasion. The pot wasn't being assaulted with the usual maniacal fervor. The change was enough to make Kagome's eyes blink open in curiosity.  
  
"Get up, get up," Seiji called with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. Kagome squinted at him in momentary confusion, trying to figure out why he was slumped in the doorway, occasionally yawning as he listlessly thwacked the pot. His was a poor imitation of Aya's operatic ode to morning. He sounded half-asleep himself, in fact. At her groggy, inquiring look, he shrugged. "Mother sent me to wake you up. She is busy stealing all the food. Get up if you want some; you have to go on a long errand today." He looked at the pot he held with distaste, shaking his head. "She made me bring this."  
  
Kagome rubbed her eyes. "Morning," she mumbled. "I'll be a second." Then, her eyes snapped wide. "Oh no! I've got to get going early today!"  
  
Seiji watched in confusion as she suddenly sprang upright in a flurry of blankets and pink flannel, and started rummaging through her bag. Clothing and strange items were flung left and right. Seiji ducked abruptly to avoid an airborne shampoo bottle, snapping into a more alert state at the threat posed by futuristic projectiles. Wishing to preserve his current lack of head-injury, he returned to the common area with a vague feeling of accomplishment.  
  
"Finally woke her up?" Aya asked with a smirk as Seiji sat down beside her and returned the pot to his father's possessive clutches. "I told you you'd need that."  
  
Seiji only glared. "Only because your usual racket has deafened her to anything else," he returned.  
  
Kazuo looked the returned pot over carefully, and heaved a relieved sigh. "Thank the gods, no new dents," he muttered, looking at his wife in exasperation.  
  
She blinked back at him innocently. "What?" she defended. She filched yet another rice-ball from the dish before him, and munched on it with a look of satisfaction. "Such measures are necessary. Some sacrifices have to be made. These girls from the future are notorious for their laggardly ways."  
  
Kazuo merely rolled his eyes. "Oh of course," he commented evenly. "I cannot recall how many times I have been warned about them." He shook his head as he ran a finger over the pot's considerably scarred and dented surface. "You just like having an excuse to run about and hit things."  
  
Aya's eyes narrowed into slits as Seiji unconsciously replicated his father's disapproving head-shake. "It is truly barbaric," the boy noted with maddening calm. "I, for one, am deeply ashamed."  
  
It occurred to Aya that this sort of blatant mutiny called for disciplinary action. She shoved the rest of the substantial rice-ball into her mouth and rubbed her hands together, casting a beady eye towards her irritatingly smug offspring.  
  
"I'll show you barbaric," she threatened almost unintelligibly through a mouthful of rice. With that, she grabbed Seiji from behind, locked an immobilizing arm around his neck, and began to ruthlessly tickle him into submission.  
  
Kazuo closed his eyes in defeat, horrified by both his wife's ridiculous behavior and his son's loud pleas for mercy. "Is it too much to ask that members of this family maintain a certain amount of dignity?" he asked no one in particular.  
  
The only response he received was a rather girlish squeal. Kazuo fervently hoped that the sound had come from his wife, and not his son.  
  
He cleared his throat. "Ignore her, Seiji. She will go away eventually," he advised in a louder voice. "Like many wild animals, your mother is only further excited by motion and noise. After the first year of marriage, I discovered that remaining still and silent confuses her long enough to escape."  
  
At Kazuo's instructive comment, Aya released Seiji, who clutched his side in relief at the sudden reprieve. He smiled gratefully at his father for his intervention, though it seemed that his mother was gearing up for another assault.  
  
Kazuo met Aya's cunning look with his own even stare. "Do not even contemplate it," he warned as he rolled another rice ball, "unless you would like to cook tonight."  
  
With that, Aya's offensive plans were preemptively and completely defused. "Foolish, suicidal man," she grumbled as she sullenly snatched another rice- ball. "Masochistic, vindictive, barbaric. . ."  
  
Seiji started to laugh at the sight of his mother's grudging capitulation. He was also greatly relieved that she was not going to call his father's bluff.  
  
"What was that?" Kazuo queried innocently as he removed the dish of rice- balls from his wife's reach. "You wanted to make a stew tonight?"  
  
Aya fell silent, much to a suddenly-pale Seiji's relief. "No one in this household has even the slightest appreciation for me," she remarked in a disgruntled tone.  
  
At that moment, Kagome emerged, fully dressed. She and looked with dismay at the platter of rice-balls, which had become considerably barer after Aya's depredations. Silently offering her the dish, Kazuo set to work making more. "That's not true," Kagome commented with her mouth full. "I appreciate you sometimes. But then you usually work me into exhaustion, and the feeling fades."  
  
Aya fell back onto the mats with a groan. "I should just leave one day! What would you three do without me? You would cry!" she announced peevishly from her prone position. "I know you would."  
  
Seiji nodded solemnly. "It is true," he commented. "After a few years, I am sure we would begin to miss you." Then, he was forced to duck to avoid the half-eaten rice-ball that was pelted at his head.  
  
Kazuo was starting to look distinctly irritated. "Do not waste food!" he warned slowly. "Unless, of course, you want to eat your own cooking."  
  
Once again, Aya froze. "You know," she gritted through her clenched teeth, "one of these days I will learn to cook marvelously, and you will have no threat to hold over me."  
  
Her husband only sniffed. "I worried the first time you said that, but after fifteen years passed, I began to doubt your resolve. Now, be quiet and eat your rice-ball."  
  
Aya's eyes flashed, but she had learned to choose her battles. She abruptly turned to Kagome. "Are you ready to go?" she asked. "If you leave now, you should be able to return by evening, and we can work on barriers tomorrow morning."  
  
Kagome nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I'll be ready in a sec. So I have to stop by Azuma's to pick up your new weapon?"  
  
Aya nodded. A sneaky twinkle took up residence in her eyes.  
  
Kazuo looked up from his task to add, "Also, if you could get the scrolls that I lent to Jirou, it would be a help to me. Azuma can tell you where to find him."  
  
"Okay," Kagome affirmed. She took another rice-ball for the road, and hefted her full pack onto her back. "Do I really have to bring all my stuff with me every time I go somewhere?" she wheedled. "It's heavy!"  
  
Aya raised an eyebrow. "When you are hunting the shards, will you be carrying all your things?"  
  
Kagome grumbled. "Well yeah, but. . ."  
  
"There is your answer," Aya concluded.  
  
"Fine, fine," Kagome replied with a sigh. "I'll be as quick as I can. See you later!"  
  
"Hurry back," Kagome heard Aya call out the door as she got on her bicycle. "We have lots of work to do!"  
  
**********  
  
"Hurry!" Inuyasha's yell was almost lost in the wind that rushed past Sango's ears. Kirara's pace was slowing with fatigue, the taijiya noted.  
  
Both Sango and Miroku rode on the fire-cat's back. They had been following the youkai swarm for hours.  
  
"We can't go any faster!" Miroku called after the flash of red that preceded them.  
  
Though they were moving too quickly to truly hear, neither Sango nor Miroku had any trouble picking up Inuyasha's snort of derision. "Keh! Try, damn it!" he yelled over his shoulder. Shippou, having anchored himself firmly to Inuyasha's back, looked back at them with worried impatience.  
  
Inuyasha once again leapt forward, but even he was tiring. The youkai they were following were covering ground incredibly quickly, spurred by bloodlust and greed.  
  
The swarm at large had a destination in mind, but there were some youkai whose determination waned when presented with the temptation of an easy kill. Any and all villages in the path of the swarm were fair game for attack. The group had been forced to stop frequently, driving the straggling youkai away from human settlements. Inuyasha and company were, as a result, far slower than the mass that they followed.  
  
They were now tracking the swarm using the fading trail of youki that the horde of youkai left behind. The mass of demons before them had long disappeared from sight.  
  
"Come on!" Shippou yelled. "They are going to Kagome! We have to get there before something happens to her!" The young youkai's voice was high with strain, aware of the growing futility of their chase.  
  
Sango's lips tightened into a firm line as she bent forward. "Please, Kirara," she murmured.  
  
The fire-cat collected her strength, and surged forward with a snarl. They all knew that her strength would not hold indefinitely.  
  
**********  
  
Standing next to her bike, Kagome looked up into the late-afternoon sky. It was clear and blue, but for some reason, she had a really bad feeling. Shivers crept over her skin, though she couldn't figure out why.  
  
Something inside her told her to she had to go back, and go back now.  
  
Kagome toed her kickstand down and went to peek in the door of the hut. She'd been waiting for ten minutes outside, but when she looked in, Jirou's grizzled head suddenly poked out.  
  
"Here it is!" the portly gentleman crowed, emerging from his home with a scroll in hand. "Please thank Hayashi for the loan," he added with a bow, "and let him know that I will come to visit him next week."  
  
"Thank you, I will," Kagome replied with a quick smile. The man grinned toothily in response. "When Kazuo wasn't looking, Aya asked me to thank you for the pickles you brought her."  
  
The old man slapped his knee and hooted. "HAH!" he exclaimed in triumph. "Kazuo just cannot accept the fact that mine are better than his!" He leaned toward Kagome conspiratorially, and shook a finger in the air. "I use my family's secret recipe, and let me tell you, Hayashi is just itching to steal it from me. Be sure to inform him that he will have it over my dead body!"  
  
Kagome couldn't help but laugh at the old man's utter seriousness. "They are very fine pickles," she added with a nod, "but I really should go back."  
  
Jirou nodded and made a shooing gesture. "Oh, of course, I will not detain you further. Do stop by again soon! It is rare that this old man has the opportunity to speak to young ladies," he replied with a mournful sigh.  
  
Kagome smiled again, but it took a bit of effort. She really couldn't shake the feeling of apprehension that had overtaken her.  
  
Something was very wrong.  
  
She tucked the scroll into a pocket of her pack, made sure the long, cloth- wrapped package from the weapons shop was secure, and got back onto her bike. "I'll try. Thank you!" she called, as Jirou waved from the doorway of his home.  
  
Once the man disappeared from sight, Kagome squinted up at the sky. The sun beat down impartially, but that sick feeling wasn't going away. If anything, it was intensifying. She felt oppressed by the heat, and the very air seemed heavy and stifling. Shaking herself, Kagome kicked off, put all her weight on the pedals, and powered herself up the sloping road that would lead her back to Aya's village.  
  
When she reached the top of the hill, she caught her breath and froze. The downhill coasting of her bike only added to the sinking of her stomach. The sweat on her skin took on an icy chill at the sight before her.  
  
The sky over Aya's village had gone black.  
  
"No," Kagome whispered. "No, no, no. . ."  
  
Her knuckles went white from her grip on the handlebars. Not even feeling the burning in her muscles, Kagome coaxed her bike into flight.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshoumaru's yellow eyes flew open.  
  
Many years of keeping vigilance over the territory of his ancestors had taught him to pay attention to fluctuations in youki. Power was a fragile thing. Though he was now well-established and seldom contested, it was unwise to abandon the habits he had developed. They had served him well after Inutaisho's death, helping him to solidify his position through many years of instability and constant attack.  
  
He had been young and new to power then. Strong youkai had thought that the new lord would be easily defeated. Discounting the strength of Sesshoumaru's father's blood – and even more stupidly, his mother's - challengers had come in droves, hoping to usurp him.  
  
After a few close victories, Sesshoumaru had trained his senses to detect movements of youki. Over time, he became able to scan over a wider area than was strictly necessary. He had attuned himself to the call of demon blood in the distance. Today, something was disrupting the balance he had become familiar with.  
  
Sesshoumaru closed his eyes again, and made an attempt to locate the activity.  
  
It was. . . yes, the youki was powerful. Many youkai, most of them relatively weak, were moving at speed towards a common goal. Separately, they would have been unworthy of notice, but so many in a state of bloodlust constituted a substantial threat.  
  
Normally, Sesshoumaru would have ignored such a thing. The swarm was not heading towards him or his territory. His position remained secure. In normal circumstances, he would have used the resources at his disposal to ascertain the source, and then evaluated the impact on his holdings at a later date.  
  
This time, however, he could intuit the source.  
  
Low-level youkai would be difficult to muster into a unified force. They were unfocused animals, unable to plan, and motivated solely by the promise of immediate reward. No strong youkai that he knew of would bother to gather such a degenerate army. However, only a master of the manipulative arts could control so many.  
  
Only one who was desperate would even make the attempt.  
  
Naraku.  
  
Shikon shards and the promise of a massacre were very motivating for youkai with basic appetites, and strength insufficient to feed those appetites.  
  
Sesshoumaru became aware of his uncommon agitation, but was unwilling to examine the cause of it.  
  
Naraku was desperate, and acting quickly to regain the power he had lost. A logical place to look for shards would be at the home of the southern miko, who had been challenged by so many youkai in the past, and was bound to have acquired a few shards along the way. And Kagome. . . Kagome was there.  
  
Sesshoumaru buckled his armor, retrieved his two blades, and left the room.  
  
**********  
  
Rin felt the keen desire to leave, but Jaken was watching her with a gimlet eye.  
  
"But. . . I don't want to!" Her young voice was filled with horror.  
  
Jaken scowled. "You found more, Rin. That means that you won the game." He spoke slowly, disgruntled by the fact that Rin's feeble human mind was incapable of understanding such a simple thing. "Your reward is to eat them all."  
  
Rin surveyed the beetles crawling between them with trepidation. She crouched, and mercifully flipped one that struggled on its back. Landing on its many legs, it scuttled away, only to freeze at the thump of Jaken's staff on the ground an inch ahead of it.  
  
"Finding them was fun, but I don't think these would taste very good," Rin explained. "Also, they're wiggly!"  
  
Jaken emitted a huff of injured pride. "Rin!" he said in a voice that echoed with authority. "You asked me to teach you a different game. You were bored, you said." He folded his skinny arms over his chest in disgust at the girl's obstinacy. "I played this as a child. It is the best game I know. If you refuse to abide by the rules, stubborn girl, you can see if I ever teach you another fun game ever again!" Jaken's voice had degenerated into a piqued croak, and he was blinking very quickly.  
  
Rin was taken aback by his demeanor. Jaken's eyes were all bulgy, and his lower beak was quivering. In fact, he seemed. . . well, Jaken looked hurt.  
  
"But Jaken," she ventured in a pleading voice, "humans don't eat bugs." She bit her lip thoughtfully. "At least, I don't think we do."  
  
Jaken thumped his staff again, but had lost some of his ire.  
  
It was true, he conceded grudgingly. Humans were completely beyond his comprehension. For one thing, Jaken mused, they leaked for no reason. Perhaps, being a rather simple form of life, they were also unable to grasp the finer points of culinary appreciation as well.  
  
"There are rules to this game, Rin," Jaken repeated, though he was losing steam. "I am sure that if you ate just one, you would see your error."  
  
Rin eyed the beetles with doubt. She was tempted to tell Jaken that some of them were escaping, but thought better of it - if Jaken had his way, she would be eating them.  
  
Rin was looking a little green, Jaken noted. While this was a sign of health among his kind, it wasn't very becoming on a human child. Jaken pursed his beak in consideration.  
  
What if Rin were to become ill, he wondered to himself with growing worry. Sesshoumaru-sama would surely be displeased if that were to be the case. The wrinkled green youkai was also certain that, in such an event, the blame would be unjustly laid on his charming, green head.  
  
"However," he continued, "I suppose that I will not force you." He frowned, torn. "Although it IS a rule," he muttered.  
  
Rin straightened slightly when she saw the glum look on Jaken's face.  
  
"Jaken," she began, "maybe we could change the rules of this game then, since I am a human, and do not think I can eat bugs."  
  
Jaken eyed her with suspicion, but didn't shake the staff at her. Rin interpreted that a favorable sign.  
  
She clasped her hands behind her back and tilted her head in thought. "Maybe you can eat the bugs when you win, and if I win, we can let them all go."  
  
Jaken looked horrified. "Let them go! But Rin, that is a waste! To have collected so many delicious beetles, and then to let them go? The very idea is. . ." Jaken's mouth opened and closed as he struggled to find the words. "The very idea is preposterous!" he squawked indignantly.  
  
Rin raised her small hands in a placating gesture. "All right. If I win, then I can give them to you as a gift, and then you may eat them."  
  
Jaken crossed his spindly arms, tucking the staff into the crook of his elbow. "I suppose that may work," he grumbled, despite his sense of fair play. "However, it still does not seem to be quite right. What would motivate me to win the game then? I do not feel that this is a workable solution, but it will do for now." With that, Jaken picked one of the beetles up, blew some of the dust from it, and popped it into his mouth with a crunch.  
  
Yes, he mused when he saw Rin's face. These humans were certainly strange. They leaked. They refused to eat delicious, delicious beetles. And, Jaken noticed with no small amount of puzzlement, Rin was once again turning a sickly shade of green.  
  
"Jaken."  
  
Both their heads popped up at Sesshoumaru's cool, commanding voice.  
  
Jaken swallowed his prize with a gulp, before he scampered towards his master, fairly prostrating himself before Sesshoumaru's tall form. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
  
Rin rolled her eyes.  
  
"I am leaving for a while." Sesshoumaru had armed himself with Toukijin and Tenseiga, and appeared to be prepared for battle, Jaken observed with interest.  
  
Surely, if Sesshoumaru was to go on an important errand, he would need assistance, Jaken reasoned. "Sesshoumaru-sama, shall I-"  
  
"Stay here with Rin. Keep this place secured."  
  
Jaken blinked rapidly, and remembered the beetles that were rapidly escaping. They were so wiggly and crunchy, he thought happily. If he stayed, he could eat as many as he liked.  
  
However, what sort of service could he render his liege here? Jaken's brow wrinkled even more than usual at the thought. Even if he had many delicious beetles to eat, it would certainly be remiss of him to remain behind. "Of course, Sesshoumaru-sama, but-"  
  
But Sesshoumaru was already gone.  
  
Jaken turned to see that Rin was busy shooing the fleeing beetles towards a nearby bush, a shrewd look in her eye. He gasped in horror. "RIN!" he croaked. "What do you think you are doing, you foolish girl!"  
  
Rin tilted her head to the side, clasped her hands behind her back, and smiled innocently at her toad-like guardian. "Nothing?" she replied hopefully. When she noticed Jaken's cheeks puffing out in preparation to deliver one of his dearly-loved tirades, she hastened to distract him. "Where do you think Sesshoumaru-sama is going?" she asked quickly.  
  
Jaken's eyes gleamed suspiciously, but he shelved his lecture for a later time. "I am sure it is unimportant, if he did not tell Jaken," he croaked adamantly, crossing his skinny arms over his chest with a nod.  
  
Rin sighed, shook her head, and looked at Jaken with weary affection. "Yes, Jaken," she said in a mollifying tone. Then, she bit her lip, curious. "Though, he rarely seems so rushed," she added under her breath, as Jaken stalked towards the bush with a beady look in his eye.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome pedaled harder and harder as she neared the village. Her skin crawled and her lungs burned, but all she could see was the darkness that had turned the sky into a black and purple bruise. Then, with a loud crackle, the clouds burst apart like a lanced wound, and the air was filled with the sound of a hundred voices raised in one unholy roar.  
  
Kagome squinted, making out a stream of writhing bodies that flowed into the village with bloodthirsty eagerness. It looked like a hurricane had hit, funneling into the small settlement, and tearing it apart.  
  
A split-second later, Kagome heard the first of the screams in the distance.  
  
Ignoring the protests of her body, she pressed on. It seemed like an eternity had passed by the time she arrived in the outskirts of the village. Quickly, she abandoned her bicycle and took cover behind one of the homes that still stood. Kagome stared up into the sky in frozen horror. There were so many youkai that she couldn't make out a sliver of blue. The black and red aura of their bloodlust hung thickly in the blisteringly hot air. Kagome closed her watering eyes against the acrid, poisonous smoke. Her ears rang with human screams and lower, inhuman cries.  
  
Then, the very earth seemed to heave in protest beneath Kagome. As she looked up, trying to regain her bearings, she saw the people she had lived among for months. The very air was infused with their terror. They were running for cover. Many were already wounded, falling as they tried to escape.  
  
Kagome looked around rapidly, trying to take stock of the situation through the thick haze of smoke and youkai that obscured everything in darkness and chaos. Her stomach clenched into a tight knot, eyes widening in shock. Not twenty feet away from her, she saw Ichirou, a friend of Seiji's. One of his arms had been torn off, and his eyes stared glassily out of his slack, blood-covered face.  
  
"Oh, gods," she moaned, feeling bile rise in her throat. She pulled her pack onto her back, and rushed towards his fallen body, trying not to quail at the pool of his blood that thickened around him. She pressed trembling fingers to his neck, held her palm above his nose, but there was no breath or heartbeat.  
  
It was no use.  
  
Kagome stood over his body, steeling herself. This was no time to lose it. Before she could finish the thought, she found herself doubling over, and barely managed to stagger away from Ichirou's corpse before she vomited violently into the dirt. When she straightened, her throat burned, and tears streamed down her cheeks.  
  
Kagome's hands clenched into fists, and her head bowed as she squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, she blinked at the sight of her boots, now covered in Ichirou's blood, and she fought the nausea that threatened to overtake her once more. She had no time for hiding and trembling. Only minutes had passed since the onset of the attack, and there was no telling how many people were dead already.  
  
She had seen these villagers daily, seen how happy they were to have Aya and her family among them. They had welcomed Kagome as well.  
  
Impatiently, she wiped her wet eyes with the heel of her hand. This was what she had been training for. She was scared, but Kagome knew that she wasn't alone. The villagers would have sent someone to get Aya. The other miko would be fighting somewhere nearby, and Kagome had no intention of letting everyone down when they needed her most.  
  
She felt the fire of resolve unfurling in her veins. Steel stiffened her spine, and the muscles in her body tensed in readiness.  
  
The ground shook again, and the roaring overhead intensified. There was less screaming now, and Kagome tried not to think about what that meant, or what the smell of burning meat signified. She reached behind her for her bow and arrow, and was brought up short when she heard something metallic strike into the ground behind her. She whirled blindly, arrow notched.  
  
In the dirt before her, a weapon quivered. It had come loose from its wrapping and fallen from her pack, spearing point-first into the ground. Aya must have gotten it for her as a surprise, Kagome realized. The older woman had mentioned something about finding a better close-range weapon for Kagome, since the staff she had been using in training was in such poor condition. . .  
  
Before she had a chance to examine the staff, Kagome heard another voice raised in an agonized scream. The sound galvanized her, jolting her into mental clarity. She reached forward and wrenched the staff from the earth, shoving it securely between her backpack and her body with a single, lithe movement. Her spine stiffened as the house behind her exploded in a shower of debris.  
  
Kagome heard a child shrieking, and turned. Above her, a seven-headed dragon leered downward, bringing its red, armored tail around to lash at her. She raised her arm to shield her body, now pulsing with violet fire, and heard its hissing shriek of pain as her energy burned through its flesh. She flexed her fingers into a fist, and brought her arm down sharply, feeling her gorge rise. Her forearm scorched its way through scale, flesh, and bone.  
  
The beast above her snarled in pain and flung itself away from her to regroup. Its eyes glowed a bright, clouded crimson. Then, it extended a clawed hand, and lunged downward trailing smoke, its body uncoiling in the air like a striking serpent.  
  
Kagome's eyes darted rapidly as she attempted to gauge the speed and trajectory of its descent. Her mouth set in a firm line as she tried to calculate her chances, fingers tightening on the smooth wood of her bow.  
  
The beast was a little slow due to its sheer size. Its movements were off balance after the wound she had dealt to its tail.  
  
She could do this.  
  
Bracing her body, Kagome raised her chin, and let her arrow fly.  
  
**********  
  
As Kikyou released her arrow, a ripple of power went through her borrowed body. She could feel the pull of the familiar energy drawing her to the village. Her clay heart seemed to beat faster, and the breath issuing from her cool lips felt warmer than usual.  
  
Kikyou didn't quite feel alive, but this was the closest she had come since the day she had been revived. At least, like this, she could remember what it had been like. She could feel the way it eluded her grasp. Suddenly and painfully aware of her emptiness, Kikyou yearned.  
  
The pale light of her arrow blasted through the badger youkai that had been blundering towards her, causing it to fall in a howling heap. Its corpse pinned several other youkai beneath its massive weight.  
  
Kikyou was not quite sure where she was going, but the nearby town was under attack, and she was being led there. To reach the village, Kikyou would have to get through this knot of enraged demons. The soul stealers hovered behind her, almost frenzied in their excitement. Somewhere nearby, many were dying.  
  
Naraku's taint was all over this slaughter. Naraku's greed shone, reflected, in the glittering, mad eyes of the youkai before her. Kikyou scanned the crowd, taking in their drooling jaws, the bloody flash of their fangs. They had been glutting themselves. Some of them had shreds of bloody clothing hanging from their claws. Others flicked pieces of bloody flesh from their fingers.  
  
Faced with the wall of evil slouching toward her, Kikyou felt a glimmer of uncertainty for the first time in recent memory. It took a moment for her to identify the emotions that tightened her throat and made her eyes burn.  
  
She was furious and afraid, angered by the evidence of innocent lives lost. She feared for her existence, such as it was. However, beneath all the grief and rage, something inside her was beginning to grow. Suddenly, she had something to hope for, even if she was not quite sure what it was. Her eyes grew large and dark with confusion.  
  
However, at that moment, there were other matters to attend to.  
  
Running her fingers over her forehead , Kikyou was surprised to find her brow damp. Ignoring it for the moment, she squinted, and as always, she did what she had to do.  
  
Kikyou pulled another arrow from her quiver with a steady hand, and fired.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome watched yet another youkai fall to the ground with a sickening impact. It dissolved into a broken mass of muscle and bone in the reddened dirt, with her arrow protruding from what was left of its skull.  
  
There were so many, she thought dully. Too many. She had stopped counting, but every time one fell, another was there to take its place.  
  
She turned and raced through the town, wondering where all the youkai had gone. It was suddenly and eerily quiet. Her arms and legs ached from fighting, and she was vaguely aware of several cuts and bruises that she would have to tend to later. Luckily, the rush of adrenaline was still raging through her, and none of her injuries felt terribly serious.  
  
Blinking tears from her eyes, Kagome scanned the wreckage of buildings, and the scorched and ruined fields beyond. She looked at the ground only as often as she had to in order to avoid debris. It was hard to blind herself to the corpses that littered the once-bustling village.  
  
Later. Later, she would have to deal with this. Just now, she didn't have time. She had run out of arrows. She would have been in a lot of trouble if the youkai hadn't suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.  
  
Kagome's relief at her unexpected reprieve faded, and a hard ball of fear congealed in her belly.  
  
Where had they gone?  
  
"Miko."  
  
The voice was rough and filled with anticipation. Kagome whirled to see two compact, reptilian youkai advancing on her. She tossed her bow aside, narrowed her eyes, and reached back to pull the staff free from the pack that she had forgotten that she carried. She wrapped her hands firmly around the dark, almost petrified wood, and swung it experimentally, only half-noticing the near-perfect balance of it before one of the youkai charged her with blinding speed.  
  
Kagome leapt back into a defensive crouch, staff held protectively in front of her, and flared with purple light, trying to push her energy outward and make a shield. Aya had tried to show her how to do this, but Kagome's attempts were usually less than successful. At this point, Kagome no longer had any other choice; her opponent was too fast, and her muscles were already burning from the strain of battle. She couldn't even see where her foe had gone.  
  
To her left, Kagome saw a sudden flash of its glowing red eyes. It was bearing down on her fast. Kagome did all she could to evenly distribute energy through her barrier, and then braced for impact, though she was sure that the youkai would be able rip out her throat with its large jaws before she even felt it.  
  
However, before it reached her, she heard it emit an injured howl. The youkai lay in front of her, repelled by her shield, but only mildly stunned from its brief contact with her purifying energy. She would have to take advantage of its momentary confusion, or she would be a goner.  
  
Leaping back to her feet with almost inhuman speed, Kagome ran forward, and speared the glowing staff through its midsection with all her strength, preventing it from recovering for another attack. Then, as it hissed at her, grasping for her with narrowed, slit eyes, she yanked the staff free of its ribcage, seized one end of her weapon's shaft, and whipped the other end downward.  
  
The smooth wood of her weapon bit through the creature's neck before it could roll free. She closed her eyes as she felt her staff crunch through bone, severing the youkai's head.  
  
The other youkai backed away slightly. "Miko," it repeated in a flat, sibilant voice.  
  
Kagome slowly straightened to face it, quivering with anger. "Why?" she asked quietly. She took a step forward. "Where did the rest go?"  
  
A slow smile cracked the youkai's wide, leathery face. It clenched and unclenched its clawed hands, and then coiled in preparation to spring. "Miko," it repeated stupidly. "Find the Miko, and I will give you power."  
  
"What?" Kagome whispered. "What are you. . ."  
  
"The village beyond the border," it hissed. It almost seemed as though. . . it was repeating its orders, Kagome realized. They had been sent here. They had all been sent.  
  
"Shikon no Tama." Kagome's face froze into a mask of revulsion as the words spilled from the creature's cracked lips in measured, robotic syllables. "I will feed you. I will make you sss-strong." The lizard-like, slit eyes blinked slowly. "Kill them all."  
  
Kagome's eyes widened in horror, even as she kicked the youkai backwards and then cut cleanly through its scaly body with her staff.  
  
"But. . . I have the shards. . ." she whispered to herself, only distantly registering the dull sound of the youkai's body hitting the dirt. She pressed a hand to the pack on her back. Kagome always made a point of keeping the shards with her, but. . . the youkai were obviously not after her. In fact, it seemed that she had just disposed of the last that lingered in the village.  
  
Kagome doubted that anyone outside the village even knew she had been living in the area. The Hayashi family had tried to minimize the risk of Naraku discovering her location while she trained. They seldom received visitors, and it was easy to avoid questions, since the house was some distance from the village. The villagers Kagome had met had all been told that she was a relation from a far away land.  
  
Aya, however, was a very well known miko.  
  
Aya, who lived a short distance away in order to shield the villagers from youkai who came to challenge her. Aya, whom Kagome been unable to find anywhere, and who should have arrived in the village soon after the siege had begun. Aya, whom Naraku would no doubt have heard about if he were trying to find those who were likely to hold Shikon shards.  
  
"Aya," Kagome murmured to herself in dawning realization. "Aya, and Seiji, and Kazuo. . ."  
  
For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Kagome started to run.  
  
"No," she whispered. The sound was carried away by the wind, and faded into silence.  
  
**********  
  
Inuyasha kept running.  
  
Even his strength gave out sometime, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep the pace up. Already, his legs weren't propelling him as quickly as they should. He felt like he'd been running forever. "Shit," he ground out under his breath. Shippou clung fearfully to his hair, and Inuyasha could feel the small body on his back trembling with fatigue and strain.  
  
Miroku, Sango, and Kirara had long since fallen behind, and the trail of youki was cold. He was now relying only on his sense of smell and the destruction that the swarm left in its wake to find where it had gone.  
  
"Shit!" he growled again, continuing only through the force of will alone. If Kagome had. . . if Kagome wasn't. . .  
  
"She's been training. She'll be okay," Shippou repeated in a strange, brittle tone for what seemed like the thousandth time.  
  
At that, Inuyasha's temper came to a head. "Maybe, if she didn't go and do something stupid!" he snapped fiercely. "You know how she gets. Sometimes she's all guts and no sense! By now, she's probably. . ."  
  
Inuyasha trailed off when he felt Shippou seize one of his ears in a death- grip. "Kagome will be fine!" Shippou screamed near-hysterically, further abusing Inuyasha's sensitive ear. The hanyou felt a wave of anger overtake him, but it quickly dissipated as anxiety returned. He didn't even have the heart to thump Shippou on the head.  
  
Inuyasha wanted to believe him, despite all indications to the contrary.  
  
He was actually a little impressed that Shippou hadn't turned into a fountain of tears by now, given the fact that Kagome was in danger. Earlier, Inuyasha had heard Shippou crying quietly into his hair, but the little fox was really keeping it together, considering the circumstances.  
  
"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed with little conviction. "She's too damned infuriating to die," he added.  
  
"She's with that strong miko, so she'll be okay," Shippou agreed, with hollow cheer. "She's smarter than you think. Kagome's not an idiot, she's just. . . brave. She didn't scream and run away when she saw your face, did she?"  
  
Inuyasha scowled. He was pretty sure that Shippou wouldn't have said that if he hadn't had a death-grip on Inuyasha's sensitive ear.  
  
"I'm going to hit you when we stop, you know."  
  
"Hmph." Inuyasha could practically see Shippou stick his little nose in the air, and the mental image was causing Inuyasha to make a fist in pure reflex. "She'll be okay, you'll see," Shippou continued. He was sounding a little better, Inuyasha noted.  
  
"Hold on," the hanyou ordered gruffly. Shippou's grip tightened, and Inuyasha cried out in pain. "Not to my ear, damn it!"  
  
"Sorry," Shippou apologized wearily. He released Inuyasha from his hold, and dug his tiny fingers into the fire-rat fur.  
  
Inuyasha was quiet for a moment. "You okay back there?" he asked gruffly. "I'm not going to stop if you fall off," he added in the most irritated tone he could manage. Inuyasha didn't want Shippou to get the misguided notion that he cared about his welfare - which he didn't, obviously. The kit was an immense pain in the ass.  
  
"Yeah. Just keep going. It's gonna be dark soon," Shippou replied, voice tight.  
  
"Hang on then," Inuyasha ordered, his silhouette bounding past the setting sun.  
  
**********  
  
[cue Lagoon]  
  
Kagome threw her head back and raised her hoarse voice in a battle-cry, as daylight slowly died.  
  
It took everything in her to prevent her body from slumping in fatigue.  
  
She couldn't even count how many youkai she had killed, how many heads she had severed. Her body and clothes were steeped in their reeking blood, and now, she could only lash out furiously with what strength she had left. Her store of spiritual energy wasn't going to last much longer before giving out, she knew. Kagome despaired to think that she would fail now, when the place she had called home was in sight. . .  
  
Kagome desperately summoned her strength and fought on, through the straggling remains of the youkai that kept her from the Hayashi home. Many had left, finding that Kagome was not easy prey, but some still lingered to challenge her.  
  
They were still hungry.  
  
Kagome knew that she wouldn't be able to fight much longer. She was too tired, and her movements had become heavier, slower, sloppier. However, one by one, the youkai around her fell under her blows. She grew accustomed to the moist impact of staff through muscle, to the horrible stink of youkai flesh as it burned against her skin, until finally, there were none left.  
  
Kagome's lungs burned by the time she staggered through the door of the house. Strangely, it stood mostly intact, though part of the roof had been destroyed. She entered, stumbling drunkenly, and blinked into the darkness. "Aya!" she called raggedly. "Seiji! Kazuo!"  
  
It was very quiet inside, and Kagome inwardly rejoiced. They weren't there anymore. Of course, they would have escaped, she thought feverishly. There was the passage, a trap-door that Aya had shown her before that covered an underground passage for use in an attack. Surely, they had escaped. After all, if she had been in the house, Aya would have heard Kagome fighting outside and come out to boss her around. . .  
  
Then, the smell hit Kagome.  
  
She gagged slightly, and stood with streaming eyes, forcefully quelling her urge to throw up once again. Her hand went to cover her nose and mouth, and she found herself walking further into the house, compelled to press on despite the fear that wrenched her guts. She couldn't see anything, she thought through her mounting panic. Why couldn't she see. . .  
  
Kagome stared blindly into the room, and then saw the glint of light reflecting off blood. Her hand fell back to her side as she took a small step closer.  
  
"Aya?" she asked in a small, uncertain voice. She stared at the human shape that lay unnaturally on the ground, surrounded by pieces of youkai. No, it was too tall to be Aya, Kagome registered. Then, she was clamping her hand back over her mouth in the horror of recognition.  
  
It was Seiji. His body lay twisted and ripped open from the belly to the throat. One of his legs had been torn off at the knee. His gray eyes stared vacantly at the ceiling.  
  
Kagome stepped towards his corpse with an inarticulate cry, and tripped over something soft, heavy and cold. When she rolled to get back to her feet, she looked down to see what was tangled in her legs, and tasted bile. She reached a hand out, and then lay frozen in horror, as her fingers curled violently against the sticky mat.  
  
"Oh, gods," she choked, forcing her eyes closed and turning away, though the sight remained burned into her eyelids. If she hadn't seen what Kazuo had been wearing that day, she might not have recognized him. He had been mauled. . .  
  
Kagome jumped back to her feet, every cell of her body commanding her to escape, but for some reason, she couldn't see properly. Everything in her field of vision had gone wobbly and gray, and someone was making gasping, choking sounds.  
  
Kagome wondered, woodenly, who it could be. It took a while for her to realize that she was making those wounded, animal noises. She stumbled to her knees again. The sounds were getting louder, Kagome noted distantly. A fog was seeping over her vision.  
  
She was going to pass out. . .  
  
"'gome?"  
  
Kagome's head shot up at the weak voice. She rubbed the heel of her hand over her eyes, trying to clear her vision. "Aya?" she asked raggedly, getting back to her feet, trying to ignore the telltale, sticky residue of death as it clung to her skin. "Where?"  
  
"Here. Corner." The words sounded thin and labored, and came from near the door through which Kagome entered. She had passed Aya on her way inside.  
  
Kagome ran to Aya's sprawled form, tried to make out her condition in the dark. The smaller woman's swords had fallen a few feet away, and she wasn't moving. She simply lay curled on her side, staring in the direction of the corpses, one arm pressing awkwardly against her stomach as though she was trying to protect herself. "Aya? Y-you're going to be okay. I have some things in my pack, I'll patch you up-"  
  
Aya laughed. It sounded bitter and tired, and for the first time, Kagome could really believe that Aya was as old as she said she was. "Did you see Kazuo. . . and my baby?" Aya coughed wetly. "I told them to go. I was all right, but-" Aya's voice was flat. "Then more came."  
  
Kagome heard a strange gurgling sound from Aya's throat, and she reached out to touch her face. The skin was strangely cold, but the tears were warm as Aya struggled to continue. "Seiji, he always has to help. He turned back, and they smelled them. . . I couldn't move after I saw. What they did to them. Stupid. . ." Aya fell silent at that, and then her body seemed to convulse, whether from the memory or from her injuries, Kagome couldn't tell. The younger woman reached out to hold her teacher still. She didn't want Aya to aggravate any of her injuries.  
  
"Aya, don't. . . Aya!" Kagome cried out as her eyes adjusted enough to see the large, dark pool the woman had been lying in. Kagome braced herself against the floor, and felt it, thick and cool against her fingertips. Kagome couldn't bring herself to ask how long Aya had been lying here like this. Too long, she registered, if she was already so cold. . .  
  
Kagome swallowed. "We have to stop the bleeding. . ."  
  
The rusty, choked laugh shook Aya's body, and it seemed like the coldness of Aya's body was seeping over Kagome's skin. "Already bled out," Aya murmured. "No recovery this time."  
  
Kagome took hold of Aya's shoulder, gently rolling her to her back though Aya's face remained stubbornly turned to the side. Kagome gasped. Aya had a huge, messy hole in her abdomen. It looked like a youkai had stabbed its claws into her back and punched through to the other side. She was soaked in her own blood. Kagome pressed her shaking fingers to Aya's throat.  
  
There was a rapid pulse, but it was almost too faint to be real. Kagome wondered if she was just imagining it. She pulled her hand back as Aya started to cough. At least one of Aya's lungs had to be punctured, Kagome concluded as her mind raced. Her ribcage was partially smashed, and there were strange sucking noises when Aya tried to breathe. . .  
  
"My body doesn't know when to stop," Aya gasped brokenly. It was then that Kagome saw the faint green glow around Aya's body - the energy that bound Aya to life. "Could be weeks. . . before I go."  
  
Kagome felt more moisture running down her own face and another sob rising in her throat. "Stop. . . crying on me," Aya admonished hoarsely, before her voice cracked. Aya was making an effort to turn her head, and Kagome remembered that Kazuo and Seiji were lying behind her. Kagome, wondering how long she had lain there, watching over them, gently turned Aya's head to face the ceiling. After a moment, the wounded woman's lips parted again. "Naraku?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," Kagome replied dully. "I should have realized. . ."  
  
"Make sure he fails," Aya whispered. "Make sure."  
  
"I will," Kagome nodded, trying to stop crying. She was so sick of crying, but she couldn't seem to stop.  
  
"Could be weeks. Please. . . This does not. . . feel so good. . . as much as I like to talk to you. . ."  
  
Kagome could feel the tears running down her face all over again as she looked at the way Aya lay, so tiny now, crumpled before her. She couldn't be asking her to. . .  
  
"No!" Kagome insisted, reaching for Aya's icy fingers and clinging to a scrap of hope.  
  
Aya couldn't die, Kagome thought frantically. She didn't want to be the only survivor - to be left in the dark, sitting alone in this wrecked home, while those she had lived and laughed with lay slaughtered around her.  
  
She didn't want to end Aya's life.  
  
"No! If there's a chance, then-"  
  
"No chance," Aya interrupted wearily. "And. . ." her tone became faraway and wistful. "Promised I would follow him. Kazuo followed me. . . for so long. I will, into. . . the next life." Her eyes drifted closed. "Seiji will, too."  
  
Silence lengthened between them.  
  
Kagome looked down at her mentor and her friend, now trapped in a broken body, and knew that she could not leave her like this.  
  
"What do you-" Kagome searched for words, biting her lip. "H-how should I?" Kagome asked hoarsely, fingers tightening around Aya's.  
  
Aya's bottle green eyes blinked open. "I think. . . could you. . . break my neck?"  
  
Kagome swallowed audibly, but nodded, unable to speak.  
  
"Do you like my gift?" Aya asked.  
  
Kagome blinked in confusion, unable to interpret Aya's words, before her eyes widened. She reached behind her to feel the slim length of the new staff behind her. "Yes, it's perfect. Thanks." Kagome could feel the tears returning with a vengeance, but Aya didn't want her to cry on her. . .  
  
"I am glad. It is from. . . an old tree, I was told," Aya advised in a tired voice. "Like we both are. . . from a very old tree." She closed her eyes once more, and drew a ragged breath. "Ready?"  
  
Kagome swallowed. "Yes," she hesitated. "A-any last words?"  
  
Aya's lip twitched, and the younger girl could almost believe that the tears streaking the older woman's cheeks were all Kagome's. "I have already been. . . talkative, considering," Aya remarked with a hint of her usual irreverence. Then, her eyes grew serious. She looked up at Kagome, who could see every bit of Aya's age in her eyes.  
  
"Do not let this ruin you," she said quietly. "You will want to remove yourself, like I did for so long, but we need ties to the world," Aya murmured. "Important people. Otherwise, you become a killer, and that. . . would be a shame," she continued haltingly. "You have been a friend. I did not have many." Her breathing was shallower now, and Kagome winced at the liquid sound of each inhalation. Aya was drowning. "Do not linger here, afterwards. He might find you."  
  
Kagome wanted to say so much, but she couldn't seem to get any words out. "I won't," Kagome choked, hoping feverishly that Aya would somehow understand all the things left unsaid. "Are you - are you ready?"  
  
"Yes." A faint curve touched Aya's lips. She furrowed her brow in concentration, and her fingers tightened slightly around Kagome's. "I was good, was I not?" she whispered with a hint of pride.  
  
Kagome thought back to the first time she had seen Aya burst out of the woods with a cocky grin and a smart-ass remark. She had seemed so indestructible then - that energetic girl standing on the remains of a youkai twice her size, arms akimbo, moaning about her indigestion.  
  
Laughing despite herself, Kagome nodded tearfully. "Yeah. You're amazing."  
  
Slowly, Kagome brought her hands to hold Aya's head firmly. She bent and pressed her forehead to the older woman's and tried very hard not to cry on her anymore. "Thanks. I - I'm going to miss you so much," Kagome whispered.  
  
"I know," Aya rejoined shakily, face taut with pain. "Told you. . . you would. And thanks. . . for the pajamas." Kagome didn't have to look to see Aya's smile. "It is time now," the woman whispered.  
  
Kagome nodded, and kissed Aya's cold cheek before pulling back. "I won't let this be for nothing," she pledged. "I. . ." Kagome's head bent. She tried not to cry, but the tears just seemed to keep coming. "Goodbye."  
  
"Kagome, do it. . ."  
  
Taking a shaky breath, Kagome squeezed her own eyes shut, tightened her grip, and did.  
  
**********  
  
Inside Kikyou, something seemed to break.  
  
If she had been asked to, she was not sure she would have been able to describe the sudden and terrifying freedom she felt. It seemed to Kikyou that she had been staring at a window for years, unaware that it was merely an artfully painted wall. Now, suddenly, the smooth barrier had shattered in a blaze of unearthly light, revealing a world that she did not recognize.  
  
It was a world that had passed her by, but one that she loved, nonetheless. Once, she had spent her life protecting it, and trying to heal its wounds. She was surprised at the emotion that rose in her chest, tightening her throat.  
  
At the unexpected sensation, Kikyou faltered momentarily in her pursuit of the fleeing youkai. Before, her main objective had been to find the source of this feeling. Then, somewhere along the way, reaching her goal had become secondary.  
  
Kikyou's main priority had shifted. The swarm had disintegrated at some sort of signal, but the danger was not over. Unsatisfied with the small amount of blood that had been spilled, the youkai were still seething with dark energy, and searching for other prey.  
  
Kikyou had a job to do, and though she remained curious about the sudden changes that had overtaken her, she had to set her own concerns aside. She had managed to salvage several quivers of arrows from the outskirts of the village that had been attacked. Now, she gave chase, aided in her hunt by the eerily silent soul-stealers that carried her.  
  
She sent another burning arrow into the fleeing swarm, noting the falling bodies. Disregarding the fatigue in her body, Kikyou notched another arrow to her bow.  
  
**********  
  
"We're only human," Miroku said in a weary voice.  
  
At present, he and Sango were going on foot, Inuyasha having long since faded from view. Kirara had been overwhelmed with fatigue some time ago. Now, transformed into her smaller form, she was curled on Sango's shoulder in a restorative and well-earned sleep.  
  
"We have to keep on," Sango said almost to herself in a low, steely voice. Miroku's fingers clenched briefly on the staff he carried as he looked at Kirara with concern.  
  
They were all exhausted. He understood that circumstances were dire, but Sango looked ready to fall apart, and he wasn't in much better condition. It was evident to Miroku that Sango was taking this attack of Naraku's very personally. He could sympathize, given the destruction of her village in a similar fashion. However, there was only so much the human body could withstand. They had been going nonstop for almost twenty-four hours, and he thought he might be starting to hallucinate due to sleep deprivation.  
  
Miroku winced as he stubbed his toe on yet another tree-root and stumbled, extending his hand for balance, and flexed it. It was constantly there - the familiar weight of the beads that bound the kazaana. The stone beads pressed into his palm, inexorable, inescapable.  
  
He stared blankly at his hand long after he had regained his bearings. "We're only human. We're tired. We can't keep going like this," he said almost inaudibly, unsure of whether he was speaking to himself or to Sango.  
  
He was surprised when her slumped posture suddenly straightened, and she turned on him, eyes blazing.  
  
"So, we are tired. I know it's difficult, but I refuse to lose anyone else!" she said with stony determination. "There's only so much I can take. If there is any way for us to help Kagome, then we are going to reach her if I have to crawl all the way, dragging you behind me," Sango asserted grimly as she planted one hand on one of her deliciously curvaceous hips.  
  
Miroku blinked and raised his hands in a placating gesture. Turning on her heel, Sango continued to plod on with weary steps.  
  
"I'm worried about Kagome," Miroku interjected in his smooth voice, "but she has always been oddly immune to harm. If she's been training, I trust her to keep herself safe." He blinked blearily at the ground. It was hard to be the upbeat member of the party, but the job fell to him. If he gave in to his pessimistic thoughts, they might as well begin to dig their own graves. As it was, he wasn't sure how well either of them would hold up, if they happened to find any youkai bent on a fight.  
  
At the rate things were going, he thought wryly, they would collapse unconscious as soon as they found Kagome anyway, and she would be the one defending them.  
  
He shrugged his shoulders in discomfort. Miroku could have sworn that Hiraikotsu was getting heavier and heavier.  
  
"You, on the other hand. . ." he began tentatively. "Sango, you're going to run yourself into the ground. I'm not going to let you," Miroku added.  
  
Sango stopped a few steps before him, and he felt a little surprised that he hadn't even been bothering to leer at the very attractive rear-view. Well, not much, anyway. Either he was truly worn out, or Shippou's so- called 'training' had been paying off, he thought with no small sense of awe.  
  
Her shoulders slumped forward slightly. "I know we won't get there in time," Sango acknowledged quietly. "We. . . well, look at us," she said a little wryly, indicating their almost pathetically ragged appearance. "But even so, I won't be able to stand it if we give up now." She looked at Miroku with a look as close to pleading as he thought he would probably ever get from her. "Don't ask me to."  
  
Miroku sighed, unable to argue with that look, and nodded.  
  
He fervently prayed that Kirara would recover soon. He didn't even want to think about how many more stupid tree-roots were waiting in the dark to trip his numb feet.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome was numb to the shocks of repeated impact that filtered up her staff.  
  
Strike to the neck, strike to the head. Movement to the left. Turn and defend.  
  
In Kagome's mind, Aya quirked her lips upwards in a small grin. "Fight dirty," the apparition advised, one hand resting on her cocked hip. "Aim to disable."  
  
Kagome aimed to kill.  
  
She pushed off into a spin-kick, combining it with a hard swing of the staff that caused three of the dark shapes to fall. Three unearthly voices merged into a dull roar.  
  
Though her body struck with deadly accuracy, Kagome had no idea how long she'd been fighting. She was barely registering her foes. They were only dark shapes blending into the night, existing only as meat for the slaughter.  
  
She was hunting.  
  
Kagome wasn't even aware that the blazing purple light that enveloped her had expanded to illuminate the forest around her. All she knew was that she felt strong. Her power was no longer something she had to coax forth like a timid animal. It burst from her like fire in flower, moving her body in blind instinct.  
  
It simply was, and Kagome was glad.  
  
When she pushed herself until her muscles strained at their limits, she couldn't quite see Aya's dulled eyes. She didn't see the way Aya's tear- streaked face had finally lain atop her neck at an unnatural angle as the pale green glow around her body slowly faded into darkness. . .  
  
Swiftly, Kagome ducked, dealing a death-blow to the youkai that had charged her with a snarl. She barely took a second to shake the blood from her weapon before she turned toward the next nameless opponent.  
  
She closed her eyes for a moment, and quickly snapped them open again when she saw Seiji behind her eyelids, his face bleached of his usual quick blush, lying in pieces, looking so lost. And Kazuo. . . Kazuo had become a smear on the mats he cleaned so carefully. . .  
  
Kagome cried out and blazed more brightly. No matter how much she fought, her mental sight eclipsed the information that her other senses offered her.  
  
With an inhuman leap, Kagome kicked off the thick trunk of a tree, launching herself headfirst at the striking shadow nearest to her, staff held before her in two clenched fists. Only the stupidest and most foolhardy of the youkai had remained behind. She was following the herd as it scattered.  
  
Maybe she hadn't gotten there when it mattered, but now, Kagome was going to do as Aya taught her. When she kept moving, the images were held at bay.  
  
One, dark blob shrieked as Kagome struck, and spewed forth some sort of poison. Without a thought, Kagome pulled her energy around herself. She froze for a moment, reminded of the time when she'd forgotten to shield herself, and had collapsed in the woods. Sesshoumaru had brought her home that night, and she'd woken up in the Hayashi house, surrounded with concerned faces and the smells of home.  
  
No longer.  
  
Kagome shut her eyes against the memories, and jerked her staff free of the corpse, letting it fall. She could close her eyes, but she couldn't help but recall the smell that had replaced the scent of Kazuo's cooking.  
  
No one ever talked about that smell. It wasn't just the smell of blood, but of guts and excrement. It was the violent odor of abdomens torn open. It was the sacrilege that took place when the secrets of the body's workings were laid naked to the cruelty of air. . .  
  
In the periphery, Kagome sensed movement. She reflexively swung her staff in a wide arc, only vaguely registering the impact that jarred her arm yet again. Striking the end of the staff into the earth, she pivoted on it, and sent both her feet flying into the midsection of another indistinct shape that approached her from behind, holding her breath to avoid inhaling the odor of searing flesh.  
  
There were more, she knew. Her body thrummed with energy and the drive to fight. She would do better this time, Kagome thought feverishly through the fog of grief. This time, she wouldn't fail.  
  
Suddenly, Kagome became aware of some disturbance beyond the cluster she pursued. Her eyes continued to scan her striking range, searching mechanically for her next opponent.  
  
Then, suddenly, they were obscured, and a deep growl shook the air, vibrating through the soil under Kagome's feet.  
  
A massive form seethed in the darkness above, descending from the sky in a liquid movement of powerful muscle. Then, in a whirl of illumination, its tremendous shape seemed to melt away, leaving a tall figure in a trail of murky smoke.  
  
Kagome spun the staff in her hands into a guarding position. Through the haze in her vision and the sweat stinging her eyes, Kagome could barely make out what was happening. The shadows were falling, one by one, sliced in half. Acid green light lashed forth, knocking bodies back. Then, a blade gleamed in the blackness, and a wave of blue lightning blasted the horde away from her, immolating the youkai as it flung them backwards in the wake of the attack. The silhouettes blasted apart into cinders, burning away into nothing.  
  
Straightening, Kagome braced to attack, trying to blink away the horrifying images that filled her head. She would block the grief out, replace it with the focused, mechanical drive to fight that had carried her this far. Aya's teachings had shaped her muscles and her instincts, and Kagome would obey.  
  
There was one left. He would be more difficult than the others.  
  
The indistinct, pale form moved towards her at a truly alarming speed. Kagome crouched into defensive position, and as it neared, she lashed out in a vicious kick, putting all the strength and speed she could muster behind the blow.  
  
It was blocked by the youkai's forearm, and then he gripped her ankle tightly in his other hand in an attempt to freeze her in position. The youkai seemed to be speaking to her, but Kagome heard only a dull roar in her ears. She froze in shock. She had to be burning his hand, but that didn't seem to be enough to deter him. Kagome felt a glimmer of fear, and then whipped her staff upwards, trying to surprise her opponent into loosening his grip.  
  
She succeeded.  
  
"Kagome," he said evenly as he knocked her staff away with the hilt of his sword. The blow was so strong that her wrist failed under the impact. Her staff went flying, and it landed, quivering, in the mossy ground quite a distance away. Kagome looked behind her in shock.  
  
Aya's present to her. . .  
  
"How dare you," she whispered as tears further clouded her vision. She put some hurried distance between herself and her opponent. Then, slowly, she circled his still form as she searched for an opening. He mirrored her slow, measured movements.  
  
In the back of her mind, Kagome heard a low voice telling her never to cast her weapon away. She had trusted that voice against all reason. . . Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, not wanting to see where the thread of thought would lead her. It didn't matter; she didn't want to see anymore.  
  
This time, she was the weapon, and she wasn't going to fail. . .  
  
"Do you intend to fight until you drop dead? Foolish wench."  
  
Kagome's brow furrowed at the disgusted tone in that very familiar voice. Something about the wording gave her pause. . . but then she saw it.  
  
An opening.  
  
"Stop this," he commanded quietly, but Kagome had already planted her feet and was bursting forward.  
  
It was too late by the time Kagome recognized that the opening she had seen was a false one, created to fool her into attacking. She wouldn't have enough time to defend herself when he retaliated.  
  
Aya would disapprove, she thought distantly. The grief rushed back, and Kagome aimed a blow at her target, heavy with the weight of despair. It was blocked, and she was confused when he made no offensive move. Wrenching free, she stared at him with blind eyes, collected her strength for another attack, and then blinked when she couldn't see him anymore.  
  
Suddenly, she spotted a flash of white out of the corner of her eye. He was inside her guard. Shit, shit, shit, she thought despairingly. He was so fast - but maybe, if she made some sacrifices, she could still win this. . .  
  
"Sleep, wench." The voice held a weird note of exasperated affection. Kagome paused slightly, and blinked in confusion. Suddenly, she felt a sharp blow to the back of her head.  
  
After that, she felt nothing.  
  
**********  
  
When Sesshoumaru looked at the small shape slumping into his arms, he felt something unidentifiable.  
  
He had arrived in the area fairly quickly due to his incredible speed, but once he had arrived, all had been in chaos. He had been searching for her for a very long time. His senses, already confused by the strong scent of the swarm, was later overwhelmed by the sick, muddy smell of blood from so many sources.  
  
When Sesshoumaru had arrived at the house and seen the corpses, he had been momentarily immobilized, frozen by the scent of human death that lay heavy in the air. Then, he had recognized the bodies as the family that had taken Kagome in. They had been cold for hours; even Tenseiga could not have helped them.  
  
Sesshoumaru had been surprised when his first instinct had been to reach for his father's sword. When he realized he was too late, a strange urgency had gripped him though he could not find the scent of Kagome's blood.  
  
Transforming himself in order to take advantage of the sharper senses of his youkai form, he had determined to track Kagome. If even her teacher had fallen. . . Sesshoumaru had forcibly stopped himself from thinking about the implications of that fact, and welcomed the sudden influx of distracting sensory information that opened to him.  
  
In the end, he hadn't even needed to find her scent. The woods had been lit with the fire of her power, visible even from afar. Relief had battled with apprehension within him.  
  
She was alive, but if Naraku were to return and see her, she wouldn't be for long. Sesshoumaru would rather relish seeing Naraku at that moment, but Kagome was in no condition for such a confrontation. She had incredible power, but it had been fueled by madness.  
  
Such strength was brittle and unpredictable. Naraku would be quick to take advantage of that.  
  
Sesshoumaru lifted Kagome's limp body into his arms, disregarding the burns on his own skin, and appraised her for injury. Most of the blood that flaked off her was not her own. Lighter streaks tracked through the dirt on her face.  
  
He didn't need to smell the other miko's blood on her clothing to know that Kagome had found the bodies.  
  
Naraku would be sure to arrive once he was confident that his swarm had removed any threat to him, and Sesshoumaru would ensure that Kagome was not there to be found.  
  
Sesshoumaru's grip tightened around her suddenly, though he was not aware of the movement. She was alive, even if her skin felt strangely cold. She would recover.  
  
Carefully, Sesshoumaru gathered her up, and flew.  
  
**********  
  
[cue Street Spirit]  
  
Suspended in the dark, Kagome fought the tug towards consciousness. She didn't question her certainty that she didn't want to awake. A mysterious chill unfurled inside her, but the edges were eaten away by warmth that seemed to reach around her.  
  
It would be better to sleep, she thought hazily. There was something waiting for her when she woke up. Something unavoidable coiled around her mind, ready to strike.  
  
Something she couldn't yet see.  
  
Aware of her mounting panic, Kagome shifted restlessly, trying to escape whatever knowledge was hidden from her. The warmth tightened around her, and her eyes fluttered open in surprise, meeting a pair of golden irises that were glowing, just inches away, in the muddy black.  
  
Sesshoumaru. Kagome's heart leaped into her throat. She felt the sensations of happiness and irritation war within her. They always seemed to recur on those nights when she dreamed of him - the nights when she was too tired to care how much of a pompous ass he could be, and just missed him for some reason.  
  
Then, the chill of the damp air reached her through her drowsiness. "I'm dreaming we're in a cave," she muttered to herself sleepily as she looked around. "A slimy cave. Gross," she noted with drowsy disgust, "but at least it's not the gas station again."  
  
The look he gave her was, however, not one she was used to seeing in her dreams. Kagome blinked. Sesshoumaru looked strangely grim, even for him. Kagome laid her fingers on his cheek, and was surprised to feel it solid beneath her fingertips.  
  
She blinked, and poked his cheek, prompting him to glare at her with affronted dignity. "Sesshoumaru?" she began. "Why are you. . ."  
  
Her voice died when she got a closer look at her fingers against his pale skin. Some rusty, flaking substance had dried on her hand, black under her fingernails. It caked in the creases of her knuckles.  
  
Blood.  
  
Kagome's throat tightened as the images came flooding back. She didn't even notice the way she knocked Sesshoumaru's arms away from her body; didn't feel the impact as she propelled herself backwards, falling to the ground.  
  
The villagers. Aya, Seiji, Kazuo. She hadn't been able to save them. She hadn't been fast enough, or good enough. She hadn't been there when it mattered.  
  
Suddenly, Kagome couldn't fight the cold that seeped through her, the ball of ice in her chest, the chill of the dirt beneath her body. She shivered violently, curling onto her side with a moan of grief.  
  
Then, the warmth returned. Arms surrounded her, lifting her carefully into Sesshoumaru's lap. Her shoulder butted against his smooth armor as he paused, seeming unsure, before he drew her closer and pressed her cheek into soft fur.  
  
"Sesshoumaru," she murmured. He was real, she told herself desperately. She wasn't alone. He had come to find her. Kagome glanced down at the strong forearm that anchored her, and froze at the sight, trembling. His pale skin was reddened and raw. "It was you," she whispered in realization. "I'm sorry, I didn't know-"  
  
"I heal quickly," his curt voice replied. "It does not matter."  
  
Kagome ducked her head in shame. "What? Of course it matters!" Kagome replied, an edge of hysteria creeping into her voice. Her fingers curled desperately over the edge of the armour he wore. "You. . . I could have-"  
  
"You couldn't have," he interrupted matter-of-factly. "You have improved, but you wouldn't have defeated me."  
  
Kagome stopped short, and breathed deeply as she forced her panic down. At his confident words, she felt a heated knot of irritation appear in her stomach, and for some reason, the familiarity of it made her feel better.  
  
Some things would never change, no matter what happened. There were cliff faces, and then there was Sesshoumaru. Kagome doubted that he was even half as vulnerable to the forces of erosion.  
  
"I dunno," she muttered darkly into the pelt as she regained her bearings. "I was really on a roll, you know. One lucky shot, and I might've-"  
  
"Oh, be quiet," Sesshoumaru grunted. When Kagome peeked upwards, he seemed to be looking off into the distance, but something about the set of his mouth indicated faint amusement. "It will never happen," he continued quietly, with a rather challenging glint in his eye. "I'm not like those simple creatures you took down so easily."  
  
Kagome felt the urge to groan, but settled for leaning back against him and closing her eyes, instead. "No, you're not. You're one complicated bastard," she observed wearily. "I'm sorry for even implying that you could be associated with such inferior beings, oh glorious one," she added with a tiny smile in her voice. She'd forgotten how much she liked bickering with him. Sure, he was infuriating sometimes, but something about him just made her crazy, and it felt good to argue with him. Especially now, when the world suddenly felt so frightening and unfamiliar. . .  
  
She'd expected him to snark back at her, and was a little surprised when he maintained his silence. The darkness filled with the sound of their breathing.  
  
"Why are you. . . wherever we are, anyway?" she asked hesitantly, after a few moments.  
  
"I sensed the swarm," he replied flatly. "It seemed that you might get yourself killed," he replied after a pause, "a feat that you seemed about to accomplish when I found you."  
  
Kagome's spine stiffened. "Oh, really," she shot back. "I was-"  
  
He cut her off. "You were fighting blind. You did not even see me." Sesshoumaru's voice was chilled and low with controlled anger. He met her eyes, and Kagome couldn't help but flinch. "You were trying to kill yourself."  
  
Shocked, Kagome was unable to put together a reply. "I wasn't. I just need to. . ." Furious, she wrenched herself free of his grip, and scooted backwards, glaring, even as she felt the ice seeping back into her body. "I was. . . oh gods," she whispered, voice cracking. "They. . . Aya's family. . . I couldn't just. . ."  
  
Keen yellow eyes watched her. "I saw them," he said dispassionately. "You were running away. You would not have cared if you were wounded. You would have continued until you were too injured to move, and then you would have died." Kagome shrank from his cold regard. It was true, perhaps, but that didn't explain why he seemed so angry.  
  
Pressing the heel of her hands to her eyes, Kagome felt herself starting to hyperventilate, unable to bear the combination of her memories and the accusation blazing from his ruthless countenance. "They were just-" her voice broke. "Now they're just pieces of meat," she hissed through her teeth. "I couldn't. . ."  
  
Sesshoumaru watched as she continued to speak, more to herself than to anyone else.  
  
"They're gone. They just weren't themselves anymore, just dead things, and Aya was lying there for I don't know how long, broken and crying. I had to. . ." Kagome pressed her face against her knees, trying to stop herself from shaking, but it seemed that using her energy so much during the fight had its after-effects.  
  
She was so cold.  
  
"I don't understand." Her fingers twisted together as she trembled. "It's just so he can become stronger, and what does that matter? I'm stronger now than I was before, but I feel worse. . . I feel so responsible. . ." Her voice died to a rasp before she composed herself enough to continue, and then the words seemed to burst from her. "I knew the things he'd done. I saw some of it happen. Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha. . . they all knew, and suffered so much because of him, and I thought I could sympathize." Kagome shook her head in mute denial, forehead pressed to her knees, before raised her head and looked straight ahead.  
  
Sesshoumaru's breath caught in his throat. The dull look in Kagome's eyes was transforming, growing hard and dark. "But how could I? I didn't understand at all," she said with disturbing calm. "I've never hated anyone until now. Not really."  
  
The dead look she'd had before was slipping away, but Sesshoumaru didn't like what replaced it. Kagome was making no move to warm herself. Her lips were turning blue, and her face was setting into blank, cool lines.  
  
Sesshoumaru had always thought hatred to be beneath him. He was familiar with contempt, anger, and even rage when he felt his domain was encroached upon, but hatred was different. To hate was to give power to someone else. Even when Naraku had attempted to absorb Sesshoumaru into his carefully built body, Sesshoumaru had just seen it as an act of an aberration. He would never lower himself to hate a creature so low.  
  
Hate took control, and drove people to willingly seek their own slavery.  
  
But now, Sesshoumaru felt his insides twist, and something dormant flickered to life. Because of Naraku, Kagome was changed. Even if she healed, she would never be able to regain what she'd lost.  
  
The way she had looked at him before had confused him. He hadn't noticed the warmth in her eyes, or the grumpy affection she seemed to hold him in until now, when she stared at him blindly.  
  
A few feet from Sesshoumaru, Kagome curled inward, and locked herself far, far away from him. She did not see him. He couldn't stand it, but he wasn't sure what to do. He was rather accustomed to comforting Rin, but that had required no effort on his part. The first time he had woken her from a nightmare, she had immediately attached herself to his arm with rather surprising strength, starved for any sort of contact whatsoever. It was a simple thing, just to be there.  
  
However, Kagome was turning inside herself. She was so overwhelmed by fear and grief that she was shutting herself behind dark, impassable walls.  
  
When Sesshoumaru moved to unhook his spiked armour, she gave no notice. When he set Tenseiga and Toukijin aside, she remained staring at the wall of the cave, looking both horribly resolved and broken beyond mending.  
  
When he knelt in front of her huddled form, her eyes didn't even flicker in his direction. However, when he sat down and hesitantly pulled her back to him, she flinched, folded into his warmth, and started to cry.  
  
Sesshoumaru said nothing. He satisfied himself with the awkward task of pulling her slack limbs more firmly against him, ignoring the reek of burned flesh and blood that rose from her skin as he warmed her with his body. It was strange to him that someone who seemed to have such a large presence would feel so small and fragile.  
  
The only heat he felt from her was in the slow bleed of tears through the silk of his clothing. Irrationally, he wondered if she would be dead once they stopped. The thought that only providence had kept her away from the miko's family at the time of the attack caused his arms to tighten, and the discomfiture he had felt before started to fade. Involuntarily, he rubbed his nose against her temple and inhaled her living scent.  
  
"You will not be reckless with your life," he ordered gruffly. "I have gone to too much trouble for you."  
  
She blinked, and he felt the flicker of her lashes against his throat. "Sesshoumaru?" she asked timidly through her tears. He felt relief ripple through him as she spoke his name.  
  
"Hn," he acknowledged. Kagome tugged her arms free from his hold, and he prepared to release her. Then, she sniffled, and Sesshoumaru was surprised when she wrapped her arms around his waist in a fierce grip. She tucked her face against his neck, still crying raggedly.  
  
After a moment of stillness, Sesshoumaru rested his chin on her hair, and simply offered her his warmth.  
  
Kagome's gasping sobs continued to wrack her body. Sesshoumaru stiffened slightly, wondering if he had done something wrong, but at his movement, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tightly.  
  
"No, don't. Sorry about this," Kagome said shakily. "I'm getting your clothes all dirty."  
  
Sesshoumaru simply held on.  
  
"He won't stop, will he?" she whispered when her tears abated enough for her to speak. "People mean nothing to him. If he can avoid a fight by ending one hundred lives, he will."  
  
Sesshoumaru made a sound of agreement, and wondered why Kagome suddenly froze in his arms.  
  
"I. . . could we go somewhere?" she asked in a firm, strong voice suddenly free of tears. "Would you help me do something?"  
  
Sesshoumaru blinked curiously. "What?" he asked.  
  
Kagome pressed her face against his throat, seeming to gather her strength, and then pushed away suddenly. She wouldn't meet his eyes, and though he saw pain on her face, the icy mask was gone. It had been replaced with a ferocity that made him feel strange inside.  
  
"The well. We have to go to it." Before Kagome finished her sentence, she was back on her feet. She checked her pack, shrugged it onto her shoulders, and retrieved her staff in cool, efficient movements.  
  
Sesshoumaru's stomach clenched, and he felt a sudden weight in his belly, as though lead were settling there. "You are going back?" he inquired coolly. "I had not thought your resolve so easily broken."  
  
Quick as a flash, Kagome raised her head and glared. "No," she replied, voice curt. "I'm not running. Not anymore."  
  
An intense feeling of relief overcame Sesshoumaru, and he wasn't at all inclined to figure out why.  
  
**********  
  
Dawn's blue light filtered into the wreckage of the house.  
  
Inuyasha and Shippou stood inside, willing the light away. Inuyasha's hands were dark with grave-dirt. Shippou's face was tight with unshed tears.  
  
"She lived here," the young fox whispered. His fingers clenched spasmodically over the bottle of shampoo he had found in the debris. He didn't dare raise his voice, knowing it would break. He didn't want to. . . there was still a hope, however slim. "Where is she?"  
  
Inuyasha remained damningly silent. They had found corpses and buried them, ashamed of the joy they had felt when they saw that Kagome wasn't among the dead.  
  
Now, though, that relief was fading fast.  
  
If she wasn't here, then where was she?  
  
"Inuyasha!" a feminine voice called from outside. He and Shippou immediately ran to see who approached, hoping against hope.  
  
Their faces fell.  
  
It was Sango. Miroku followed, bringing something with him. His dark head was bent, and he looked defeated.  
  
"We found this outside the village," he said in a pained voice as they neared.  
  
It wasn't pink like the one Kagome had ridden before, but there was no mistaking that it was a bicycle. It had to be hers.  
  
"I'm. . . I'm sorry," Miroku said wearily. He closed his eyes briefly. "We. . . we will have to go back to the village. There are so many dead. It will be hot today, and it will be best to bury them soon."  
  
Inuyasha turned his head at the sound of a choked cry. Shippou's face had gone completely white. He stared at the bicycle with wild, tear-filled eyes.  
  
Sango dropped Hiraikotsu, and snatched the little fox into her arms as he rushed towards her.  
  
"We didn't see her, Shippou," she murmured. "But. . . we didn't just find human corpses. There were youkai too, killed by a miko's arrow." She carefully omitted the fact that some of them had been brutally ripped apart. Surely, Sango thought, Kagome couldn't have been the one who had done that, but. . . "She could be fine." Sango's words fell like lead, too leached of life to be convincing. "We're not going to give up," she said.  
  
Shippou nodded slowly. He couldn't meet her eyes, and stroked Kirara's head with a tiny, trembling hand.  
  
Inuyasha stared down at his own hands, and distantly noted that they shook as well. He felt helpless, and there was nothing he hated more.  
  
"Where the hell did she go?!" he exploded savagely, more out of desperation than genuine anger. "That the hell was she thinking? If she'd just stayed where we could find her, I could have been-"  
  
"Stop it." Miroku's voice was cold and flat with exhaustion. "Just. . . stop it. You're not helping."  
  
Inuyasha fell silent as abruptly as he had begun.  
  
"We have to go back," Sango murmured against Shippou's hair. "To. . . to bury the dead."  
  
After a moment of strained silence, the four of them turned slowly and started back towards the village.  
  
Unfortunately, someone was blocking their path. They all lurched to a halt, arrested by the sight that greeted them.  
  
"Inuyasha." Kikyou's calm voice broke the stillness. She stood before them, bearing herself with the same straight-backed assurance that she always had.  
  
"Kikyou," Inuyasha growled wearily. He was, for once, not particularly pleased to see her. He didn't have the energy for any of her games, especially now that the one that resembled her so closely was nowhere to be found, and most likely dead.  
  
But then, Inuyasha looked again. He saw something different in her this time. Though she held herself proudly, there was an odd expression on her face. She seemed ashamed and hesitant.  
  
Even more strangely, there was no sign of the soul-stealers that usually shadowed her every step. In the morning's warm light, Kikyou almost looked. . .  
  
"Inuyasha," she repeated, stepping forwards with a wince of anticipated rejection. "I. . ."  
  
"Kikyou?" he asked in disbelief, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Something weird was going on, he thought to himself. Something was not right.  
  
She took another shaky step forward, reaching her hands towards him, and then. . .  
  
Kikyou's eyes rolled back in her head. As if in slow motion, her body slumped forward, and then she fell face-first into the grass at his feet with a resounding thud.  
  
Inuyasha and company merely stared down at her for several stunned seconds. Then, recovering herself, Sango leaned down to brush Kikyou's hair away from her cheek.  
  
"She's. . . she's warm!" Sango whispered. "Is she usually warm?"  
  
Inuyasha bent to touch Kikyou's neck.  
  
Then, they all heard it. A loud rumble broke the stillness - the unmistakable sound of a stomach loudly protesting its own emptiness.  
  
"Shit!" Inuyasha exclaimed in disbelief.  
  
"I suppose souls aren't as filling as they used to be," Miroku suggested dryly. Sango's lips twitched slightly upwards.  
  
Inuyasha froze as his fingers made contact with the skin at Kikyou's throat. It was true, the skin was warm, but beneath it, he could feel. . .  
  
His head shot up suddenly, golden eyes clouding with shock and confusion.  
  
"She's. . . alive," he observed incredulously. "Well, maybe not alive, but there's a pulse! That's just. . . weird."  
  
Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku gaped at one another in turns, too stunned to act.  
  
"Um. . ." Shippou's voice broke the silence. "Maybe we should turn her over?" Three heads swiveled towards him in unison. "Or we could just let her suffocate in the grass," he remarked with a shadow of sarcasm.  
  
"SHIT!" Inuyasha barked, springing into action. "I guess we should find some food."  
  
Miroku rolled his eyes in vague amusement. "You're never in that kind of hurry when I say I'm hungry," he groused.  
  
"Keh," Inuyasha rebutted with some of his usual aplomb. "That's because you just head for the nearest house when you're hungry, lying through your teeth about evil omens. Damned degenerate."  
  
With another discreet eye-roll, Miroku mumbled something about how he at least did not knowingly consort with actual, undead, evil omens. Sango, at Inuyasha's killer glare, was prompted to conceal her sudden attack of mirth with a rather artificial-sounding series of coughs.  
  
After muttering something involving the words "Keh!" and "Pervert monk," Inuyasha set out to find something edible.  
  
**********  
  
Kagome barely tasted the granola bar that was currently settling like lead in her stomach. The beauty of the fields beneath her, glowing brightly in the light of day, was lost on her.  
  
She and Sesshoumaru sped silently towards the well, side by side on a strange cloud that traveled at an incredible speed.  
  
If her stomach weren't twisting uneasily, Kagome may have enjoyed her breakfast more. As it was, she was still reeling from her sudden panic. It wouldn't even have occurred to her to eat, if Sesshoumaru hadn't refused to bring her before she fed herself.  
  
Kagome flicked the last of the crumbs from her fingers and then tightened her grip on Sesshoumaru's arm. She could still feel the weight of death on her mind and heart, but her sudden epiphany had pushed her to act immediately.  
  
Her family.  
  
It had never been clear to Kagome what precisely made it possible for someone to travel through the well, but she would take no chances. If anyone could find a way, she didn't doubt that Naraku could. She wouldn't let him use them against her. She wouldn't allow it, even if that meant that she might never go home again.  
  
It had been pure luck that Naraku had never discovered the truth of her origins. It had always been plainly obvious that she was not a typical teenaged girl from the feudal era, but Naraku had simply chosen to ignore that fact until now.  
  
However, Kagome had no idea what might happen when desperation took hold of him. He liked to strike at people through their loved ones, and Kagome hadn't been at all discreet. It was only a matter of time before he discovered her secret, and if he saw her newfound strength, he would try to find a way to weaken her.  
  
He had proved in the past that he wasn't above taking hostages. Nothing was beneath him. He would go to any lengths to create an advantage for himself, no matter how small. . .  
  
Kagome had no intention of letting him. Now that she had experienced the look, smell, and taste of death first-hand, she would do whatever she had to in order to prevent it from happening to any more of her loved ones. She had no idea how Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha and Shippou managed to endure the pain of losing their families, but she did not want to test herself. At least, on the feudal side of the well, she knew that her friends were able to defend themselves.  
  
Her family, on the other hand, had no such experience, beyond the stories her grandfather told. If Kagome wanted to be able to fight, she had to know for a fact that Mama, Grandpa, and Souta were going to be okay. She wouldn't be able to take another loss. Even now, the image of how she had found the Hayashi family would never leave her. The dull, dead eyes. . .  
  
Kagome's fingers curled with unconscious strength on Sesshoumaru's arm. She turned to look at his calm, unreadable profile.  
  
She still didn't quite understand why he had gone to find her. Actually, Kagome had half-expected Sesshoumaru to refuse to bring her to the well.  
  
But he hadn't refused. Instead, he was standing here beside her. His mere presence seemed enough to steady her nerves. Of course, she knew how strong he was, and that helped her to feel safe. But also. . . he had to care, at least a little. And suddenly, Kagome found that the air of unassailable confidence that he naturally exuded was reassuring, rather than aggravating.  
  
Maybe he liked her the way she liked him - completely against his will, but in a manner that was impossible to ignore. Maybe he liked her in a way that niggled and bugged at him until he couldn't help but acknowledge it.  
  
During his absence, Kagome had found that she couldn't help but think of him when she tripped over her own feet in sparring. Once, she'd landed flat on her back, and the sensation of having the breath knocked out of her had reminded her of how it felt when he kissed her.  
  
And, later, when she was half-asleep, she couldn't seem to keep herself from thinking about how it felt when they had done. . . other things.  
  
It all made very little sense, but after everything that had happened, Kagome was starting to feel like it really didn't need to make sense. And. . . he'd allowed her to cry all over him, and hugged her in an awkward way that had felt amazingly good, nonetheless. He hadn't even seemed to care that her hands left bloodstains on his clothing, or that she had most likely cut off the circulation to his legs.  
  
Kagome suddenly wished she could tell what he was thinking.  
  
However, before she had time to ruminate on the matter in any more detail, they had begun a swift descent into the clearing.  
  
"We're here," Kagome remarked in a tight voice as all her shadowy, unformed anxieties came flooding back.  
  
"I would have known if we were followed." Sesshoumaru's words were calm and measured, and Kagome squeezed his arm in silent thanks for answering the question she had been about to ask.  
  
The mist that had carried them evaporated from beneath their feet, and they settled into the soft cushion of grass.  
  
With slow steps, Kagome approached the familiar well, and then hesitated, turning to Sesshoumaru. "I. . . I want to go back one more time. Just once."  
  
He inclined his head in the slightest of nods, and looked at the well with a shadow of interest in his eyes.  
  
Kagome shifted uncomfortably under the weight of her pack, and looked down at her shoes for a second, before she looked up and met his gaze again.  
  
"Wanna come?"  
  
It was difficult to read Sesshoumaru's expression as he slowly walked towards her.  
  
"It's. . . well, I don't know exactly how it works," she babbled, uncertain of why she was so nervous. "But maybe if you take some of the shards, you can come with me. And that would probably be a good idea, because you'd get bored waiting for me, and. . . and. . ."  
  
"You might not want to return," he said flatly.  
  
Kagome laughed hollowly in acknowledgement. "If I. . . it will be hard to just say goodbye and come back. . ."  
  
Sesshoumaru came to a stop beside Kagome. "I will come," he said quietly. They both climbed to the lip of the well, and Kagome pressed a shard into his palm.  
  
"I'm warning you," she added as an afterthought, offering him a tense smile. "Inuyasha always goes on and on about how bad it smells over there."  
  
Sesshoumaru merely shrugged, and took hold of Kagome's hand, before they both stepped into nothingness.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshoumaru stood in the center of the Higurashi shrine-complex, and looked up into a foreign sky.  
  
It wasn't blue as he was used to. Instead, the blue of the heavens was obscured and greenish, thick with whatever unclean haze spewed out of the sprawling structures in the distance.  
  
Kagome had simply looked around upon their arrival, and emitted a soft, relieved sigh. Then, the two of them had gone towards a large house, and Kagome had found a gleaming metal key hidden beneath a loose stone, using it to open the door and enter.  
  
Inside, Sesshoumaru had been taken aback by the unfamiliar objects and materials surrounding him. Kagome had tossed her pack to the floor and ran about, searching for her family members, as though she had done it a thousand times before. . . which she had, of course. Despite the many months she had spent in the feudal era, her scent lingered. It mingled like a faint shadow with the stronger smells of her family.  
  
Sesshoumaru had chosen to go back outside, disturbed for amorphous, unnamable reasons.  
  
He had known that Kagome would not lie about her home. He had known that her world would be vastly different from his. However, acknowledging that fact intellectually had not in any way prepared him for the almost visceral onslaught that greeted him on this side of the well. The trees, the green patchwork of the world he knew, had been buried - submerged in a sea of dull gray stone.  
  
He had looked out over what Kagome called "Tokyo," somewhat shocked to see the height of the stone buildings, immense human-built monuments that reached towards the clouds.  
  
She had been right to warn him; the air was thick with conflicting scents. The smell of humanity was everywhere, due to the apparent density of the population. Though the humans of this time bathed more often than did the ones of his era, it was still overwhelming. The new sights that greeted him in this era were accompanied by a bustling mish-mash of unidentifiable sounds and scents. Perhaps Inuyasha had not had very much trouble with the overload of stimuli, but he was hanyou, and possessed dulled senses in comparison to Sesshoumaru's. The full-blooded inuyoukai, even while forcibly keeping his reactions in check, was almost reeling from the smell of a thousand banked, oily fires, and the constant hum of wheels in motion.  
  
An alien noise from above grew steadily in volume, and made Sesshoumaru's muscles tense as he looked upwards in anticipation of attack. When he saw the source of the din, he relaxed slightly. It was another of those strange machines; this time a deafening metallic bird. Sesshoumaru felt a twinge of unease at this indication that humans had even overtaken the heavens.  
  
"No one's here." Kagome interrupted quietly as she emerged from the house, locking the door behind her. "I mean, I knew Souta would probably be at school still, but Mama and Grandpa are usually home at this time. Though," she added in sad realization, "I guess things probably have changed. . . since I've been away." Kagome looked down at her hands for a moment. Then, she adjusted the straps of her backpack with practiced movements, and turned her steps back to the well-house.  
  
She stopped when Sesshoumaru didn't follow, and looked back in silent inquiry.  
  
"We could wait," he said almost against his will.  
  
Kagome shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. "No, it's okay. I shouldn't have come back at all," she murmured almost to herself. "This is just making it harder. . . and if I see them, it will be even worse. No," she whispered to herself. "It's time to go back."  
  
They walked back to the well-house, blinking in the sudden darkness. Seeming to fortify herself, Kagome paused on the lip of the chasm as she stared into the black depths. Then, without a backward look, Kagome's hands curled into fists, and she jumped down into the well's depths for the last time.  
  
Though he meant to follow, Sesshoumaru couldn't prevent himself from turning to take one last look at this strange era that Kagome called home. He had, of course, known that few things were impossible, but being confronted with the distant future was jarring.  
  
Sesshoumaru wondered if, in another five hundred years, he would see this come to pass. On the youkai timescale, he was quite young - but if nothing cataclysmic had happened, why could he find no traces of other youkai? As hard as he tried, his senses were unable to detect a single being.  
  
Perturbed by the lack, Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and extended his senses, hunting for even the slightest hint of demonic energy. He felt anxiety creep through his body at the idea of his kind's extinction. Sesshoumaru had never before had any reason to doubt that his life would span thousands of years. He had always believed that the world would remain mostly unchanged. He had believed that his hold over his territory would last until his progeny continued the line of rule.  
  
Now, that certainty had been undermined, shaken to its foundations.  
  
At least some things remained, Sesshoumaru thought to himself, feeling slightly reassured as he looked to the old, scarred god-tree. His own world might fade into obscurity. The existence of youkai might become a secret, hidden history. Some things, though, remained over the centuries. Some things were left to murmur their stories into this unfamiliar world.  
  
Just when Sesshoumaru was about to dismiss his search for other youkai as a futile exercise, he felt it. Amber eyes, clouded with doubt, opened slowly.  
  
Close by - very close by, there was another.  
  
It was nearly impossible to detect. The youki was oddly muffled in a way Sesshoumaru had never before encountered. It seemed as though the youki had been suppressed for years, but it was unmistakable.  
  
As he focused his attention on it, Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in shock and suspicion.  
  
It wasn't an exact match, but the power he sensed in the distance was disconcertingly like his own. . .  
  
Before Sesshoumaru had fully absorbed his discovery, an odd noise caught his attention. He turned to see a small human boy watching him with his mouth agape. A black and white ball bounced once before slowly rolling away, having slipped from the child's slack fingers.  
  
**********  
  
Souta gulped as the tall, regal stranger stared at him from where he stood outside the open door of the well-house.  
  
With those clothes, the swords, that armor - and the big furry thing - he had to have come through the well, Souta thought numbly.  
  
The youngest Higurashi had made a habit of going by the well-house after he returned home from school, but he had long since given up on the idea that he would find anyone there - let alone a stony-faced, important-looking stranger.  
  
A stranger with pointy claws, Souta registered dimly. Youkai. Like Inuyasha. . .  
  
"Where's Kagome?" Souta asked loudly. He was dismayed to hear his voice crack. Puberty was really embarrassing, he thought sheepishly.  
  
The stranger winced slightly at the squeak in Souta's voice.  
  
Souta took a step back as one of the pointy-clawed hands tightened, and bit his lip in worry. The youkai did not reply, but his yellow eyes were narrowed in a decidedly unfriendly manner.  
  
Sure, Kagome seemed to make friends with some very strange people, Souta thought, but this guy was just. . . scary, in a quiet, watchful way. What if. . . what if Kagome didn't know this guy, Souta asked himself in horror. What if he'd just come over to wreak havoc, and kill boys who lived at various shrines in the Tokyo area? What if he was. . .  
  
Souta groaned internally as his thoughts ran wild, cursing under his breath. He took another instinctive step backward, wracking his brain for the name of Kagome's enemy.  
  
"You. . . are you. . . Na-Nakaru?" Souta stammered. At the continued lack of response, The dark-haired boy started retreating as subtly as possible, keeping his eyes trained on the swords at the stranger's waist as he got ready to break into a run.  
  
It was too bad that Souta had forgotten the soccer-ball lying so innocently behind him.  
  
Souta hit the ground with a muffled whump and an "oof!" of discomfort. He was so focused on his own frenzied scramble to escape that he missed Sesshoumaru's look of recognition and surprised amusement.  
  
No way, Souta groaned to himself as he rolled from his back onto his hands and knees. He was starting to crawl away as quickly as possible, when the creature deigned to address him.  
  
"You sister has returned through the well," a low, cold voice began, interrupting Souta's undignified flight. "And I am not. . . Naraku."  
  
Souta quailed at the disdain in the stranger's gelid tone. Arrested mid- crawl, he looked back over his shoulder to see the youkai's annoyed expression.  
  
"D-do you. . . know Inuyasha, then?" Souta inquired innocently. "He hasn't been by lately, not since Kagome went back, a-and. . . well. . ."  
  
Souta watched the visitor almost twitch at the sound of Inuyasha's name. "I know him," he replied curtly, looking as though he had stepped in something nasty.  
  
Souta sprang to his feet and approached, albeit cautiously. "Well, you have a bit of a resemblance, you know. To Inuyasha, I mean, with the eyes and the hair, a-and. . . but you don't have the fuzzy ears," Souta added, unable to conceal his disappointment.  
  
Before Sesshoumaru could reply to Souta's criticism, the dark-haired boy tipped his head to the side in consideration. "You must be one of Kagome's friends, right? What's your name?"  
  
Sesshoumaru crossed his arms over his chest, looking slightly irritated at the small human's interrogation. "Sesshoumaru," he stated with a note of finality that was calculated to discourage further questioning.  
  
"Oh. I'm Souta." Dark eyes grew round as the frazzled boy put two and two together. "Hey, you tried to kill Kagome a bunch of times!" he suddenly accused, evidently forgetting his earlier intimidation.  
  
Sesshoumaru merely raised one graceful eyebrow and flexed one hand slowly.  
  
Souta backpedaled as quickly as he could. "Though, I guess, if she brought you over with her, you must be okay," he added quickly. His brown eyes inspected Sesshoumaru, before Souta planted his hands on his hips with an unexpectedly knowing look. "Hunh," Souta muttered, making the syllable as loaded as possible. "She always likes the weird ones," he breathed, only to see by the narrowing of Sesshoumaru's eyes that he had been heard.  
  
"I am going back," Sesshoumaru interjected with a look of dismissal, turning with a flick of the pelt.  
  
Souta bit his lip as he watched Sesshoumaru walk away.  
  
"Hey!" he called after him.  
  
Sesshoumaru paused, and then Souta forgot what he'd been about to say.  
  
"Um. . . errr. . ." Souta began haltingly. His hands fisted at his sides as he examined the scuffed toes of his sneakers. "Tell Kagome. . . tell her I'll be really mad if she isn't back for my next birthday. And. . . and. . . hey! Hey, wait a second!"  
  
Sesshoumaru, who had started to walk again, stopped and turned to regard Souta with impatience.  
  
Still staring at his shoes, Souta struggled for words. "If you. . . well, I may be little right now, but if something happens to her and you make me go through that well, you're gonna regret it." He looked up, meeting Sesshoumaru's amber eyes with surprising resolve. "I'm from a shrine family, you know," he said firmly.  
  
A silence fell, and Souta couldn't keep the eye contact for long under such intense scrutiny, and returned his gaze to his footwear. After some time, Souta felt sure that the youkai had left. He almost jumped when he heard Sesshoumaru speak.  
  
"If I wanted her dead, she would be," The youkai stated calmly.  
  
The words were harsh, but something in Sesshoumaru's voice was oddly reassuring to Souta. When the dark-haired boy pulled himself together enough to look up, Sesshoumaru was already gone.  
  
**********  
  
"Where on earth did she go?" Inuyasha repeated for the umpteenth time.  
  
The group, a still-unconscious Kikyou included, had congregated around a smoking fire. Three fowl sizzled over it as Sango slowly turned the spit.  
  
Miroku was sitting against the trunk of a nearby tree, eyes closed as he tried to nap above the noise that Inuyasha made. Shippou, obviously immune to the noise-levels, snored quietly in the monk's lap.  
  
None of them seemed to be making much of a fuss over Kikyou's seemingly revived state. After his initial shock, even Inuyasha had started to view the matter as cause for suspicion. Kagome was nowhere to be found. Kikyou seemed shockingly lively. The whole thing seemed a bit too coincidental to be chance.  
  
If anything, Kikyou's apparent return to the land of the living made them all worry even more about Kagome.  
  
Sango stayed silent, focusing on her task with an almost frightening intensity.  
  
"I don't get it," Inuyasha repeated dispiritedly. "What the hell happened?"  
  
"Inuyasha," Sango interrupted firmly as he caught his breath for another outburst. "I know it's. . . difficult." She swallowed audibly, before continuing. "But. . . I think we should at least consider the possibility that Kagome. . ."  
  
"What?" Inuyasha muttered.  
  
Sango blinked rapidly, and it was hard to tell if it was due to the smoke from the cook-fire, or if it was from another, more internal source. "The possibility that Kagome might be. . ."  
  
"Don't even say it," Inuyasha growled. "Until we find some evidence-"  
  
Miroku's steel-grey eyes blinked open as he gave up on his plan to nap. He covered Shippou's ears carefully with his hands. "We found her bike," he then offered, in a voice devoid of any emotion. "The dead girl is blushing and stammering. Call me crazy, but I would say that the situation does not look good."  
  
"She wasn't on the bike," Inuyasha retorted. "And we have no idea what is going on with Kikyou. For all we know, Kagome's hiding somewhere safe."  
  
"And when have we known Kagome to 'hide somewhere safe'?" Miroku rebutted, in his calm 'thinking' voice. "It isn't in her nature to do that." Miroku looked down at Shippou with weary eyes, glad to see that the kit at least was getting some rest. "We have to start thinking about what we are going to do, if. . . if she's dead. We'll have to start planning."  
  
The somber silence that settled over them after Miroku's statement was broken by an unexpected voice.  
  
"She is not dead." Kikyou pulled herself up into a sitting position, looking rumpled, with parts of her hair sticking up and dirt smudged on her chin. The very incongruity of the sight was oddly mesmerizing, and Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha looked at her with unease.  
  
"What?" she asked self-consciously, using her sleeve to scrub the dirt from her face as she looked around at Inuyasha's companions in consternation.  
  
The stares she received from the rest of the group only intensified. Kikyou gazed at her knees and raised a hand to her head, wincing as she found some dried leaves in her hair. "What is it?" she repeated, a little annoyed this time. Her stomach rumbled again, loudly, at the smell of roasting meat.  
  
"Oh gods, I am hungry," she muttered, looking longingly towards the roasting fowl, only to see Sango's eyes widen. Then, Sango seemed to collect her wits. The taijiya cut a chunk off the roasting bird, and tossed it towards Kikyou.  
  
Not even bothering to conceal her eagerness, Kikyou caught it, took a bite, and made a strange yelping sound at the blistering temperature. She was so absorbed in the food that she didn't even notice as Sango walked over to her and stood, hands braced at her sides in determination.  
  
"Explain," she commanded firmly. "What do you know about this?"  
  
"I. . . "Kikyou looked away for a moment, before meeting Sango's shrewd gaze with her own. "I just know she is alive," she replied defensively.  
  
Inuyasha's eyes narrowed in confusion when Kikyou just stood there, looking off to the side with a look of discomfort on her face.  
  
She had always done that when trying to avoid a confrontation, he recalled. At least, she had back when she had been alive.  
  
After a certain period of time had elapsed with Inuyasha merely staring at Kikyou with a particularly strange expression on his face, Miroku and Sango gave up on getting any information. Hoping that Inuyasha would have more luck alone, they tactfully removed themselves, Shippou, and Kirara from the scene, and hid just barely beyond earshot.  
  
"Kikyou," he mumbled in confusion. He ran a hand over his face. Of course, he was happy to see her the way she had been before she had been remolded out of clay, but. . .  
  
It was painful, too. After everything that had happened, this felt to Inuyasha like another trick. He worried that an axe was waiting, poised to fall as soon as he made one wrong move.  
  
Kikyou had always been his great weakness. In life, she had embodied all his hopes of belonging somewhere. But now, after the massacre, Inuyasha was no longer willing to take foolish risks. His own life was one thing, but his friends were affected by his actions. He had to be cautious - even with Kikyou, who had been his best friend in two incarnations.  
  
Now, when he looked at her, Inuyasha saw Kagome's face, and his gnawing fear for Kagome's safety sank its teeth deeply into him.  
  
His deductive skills may not have been the best in the world, but even he could see a link between Kagome's disappearance and Kikyou's sudden renewal. He suspected that the connection was one that he would not like at all.  
  
Despite all that, Inuyasha couldn't help but be glad to see Kikyou. He got up to his feet with an awkwardness that felt alien to him, and then grabbed her into a sudden and uncomfortable embrace.  
  
She was definitely warm, he registered, blinking in wonder. Not only that, but the cool smell of earth had been joined by the slightly sweaty scent of human exertion. After a few moments of stunned silence, he felt her free hand hesitantly settle itself on his back, returning the pressure.  
  
When Inuyasha pulled away, he saw that Kikyou was smiling. Tears were running down her face. She raised one hand to touch her cheek, and a look of surprise crossed her face as she stared at the shining moisture on her fingers.  
  
"I . . . I forgot how it felt," she murmured, half to herself. Then, a grin of exultation curved her mouth. That expression, Inuyasha thought in shock, was entirely new.  
  
"I forgot. . . I missed you," she said haltingly.  
  
Overwhelmed, Inuyasha abruptly sat back down in the grass, crossing his legs and frowning as he tucked his hands into his sleeves. "It's good to see you again," he replied after a pause. "Really see you, I mean. But. . . what the hell is going on?"  
  
He heard a rustle of fabric as Kikyou seated herself next to him. When she spoke, her mouth was full.  
  
"I do not know, exactly," she replied as she chewed. "I was drawn here. It seemed like the closer I came to this village, the more I could move on my own." She swallowed, and took another large bite from the chicken leg she held, munching on it with obvious relish. "I think it must have to do with the girl. Your friend."  
  
Inuyasha stilled, and a pensive silence fell over the two of them. "How?" he asked guardedly.  
  
Kikyou frowned at his reticence, but shrugged in acceptance before meeting his eyes earnestly. "I am not sure, exactly. Last night. . . there was a moment. A flash of power, and then, I was back. It felt a little like. . . when Urasue took her soul to feed me. But it was different."  
  
"She was training here," he supplied after some time. "Learning to use that miko power you two have."  
  
"She cannot be dead," Kikyou pronounced with finality, indicating herself with a gesture of the chicken leg. "I would know. If she had died, I would not be here. We are connected."  
  
Inuyasha's forehead creased slightly in thought. "You were weird the last few times we saw you," he muttered. "I figured something was up. You didn't seem interested in messing with us as usual."  
  
Kikyou's head bowed slightly as she went over the memories of her past actions. The memories were hers, but at the same time, that hadn't been her, she thought to herself. Not in any true sense, anyway.  
  
"I am sorry, for before," she murmured. "I. . . I started wanting to help, and I did not know how, or why. . ." she trailed off, at a loss.  
  
"Kagome's alive," Inuyasha breathed. He felt a crushing weight lift from his heart, and he sprang to his feet, shouting in the direction that his nosy friends were likely hidden, spying on them. "Kagome's all right!"  
  
Kikyou watched warily as Inuyasha's friends returned, skepticism writ large on their faces. They did not trust her, and she could not fault them for that. Straightening her shoulders, Kikyou tried to conceal her nervousness in the face of their suspicion.  
  
Then, Inuyasha was giving them an abbreviated explanation of what Kikyou had told him. The news seemed to sink in as they approached, and they suddenly looked so. . . so much younger, she noted. The worry lines faded gradually from their faces. Looking liberated, the monk broke into a laugh, and the taijiya squeezed the small fox in her arms as the dullness faded from their features.  
  
Kikyou quickly hid the stab of pain that struck her heart.  
  
When she had been alive, there hadn't been many who worried about her, or shared in her happiness. She had only had Inuyasha and Kaede, really. Her parents had passed on in her early teens. After that, she'd had to raise Kaede, and her sister had been so much younger that their bond had been one of respect and parental duty rather than friendship.  
  
All the villagers had maintained a slight distance. They had been grateful for her skills and strength, and kind, but Kikyou had always felt slightly removed from them.  
  
The shrine-maiden. Not quite human.  
  
Inuyasha had been her first true friend, the first person Kikyou had felt could understand how she felt. They had both dwelt outside the circle of warmth and community, excluded from the easy friendship that came so easily to others.  
  
But Kagome - the girl whose soul Kikyou shared - seemed able to form bonds so quickly, despite the fact that she was only a visitor to this era. Kagome's friends were smiling and laughing, in transports over the mere knowledge that she was alive. Kikyou could not help but envy Kagome that, though she knew it was petty.  
  
Kikyou set her lips in a firm line. She had never been the type to linger over her unhappiness, and now, there was too much to do in any case.  
  
Naraku, who had done so much harm over the years, had committed an unforgivable transgression in his casual massacre of this village, Kikyou thought seriously as the others shared in celebration and relief.  
  
Ironically, he was not even aware of what he'd done. He did not know their strength. He did not know that, as Kikyou and Kagome were now, they would be very dangerous to him. He did not know the fury that these people would feel, now that he had inadvertently struck at their hearts.  
  
Vengefulness was one thing that Naraku had always been able to understand and manipulate, but he would never be able to grasp the pain he had caused these people. He was simply incapable of imagining it.  
  
Kikyou's lips turned up slightly. Naraku would be surprised to find that human strength was forged in suffering, like a blade in fire.  
  
Naraku's mistakes were going to come back to him, and Kikyou would be there to see it through to the end.  
  
**********  
  
[cue Sometimes]  
  
Kagome watched with burning eyes as Sesshoumaru used his poison claw to melt the stones they had piled into the well.  
  
He had assured her that, once dry, the dissolved rock would be as hard and impenetrable as the concrete in her time.  
  
Kagome had already destroyed the well's aged, wooden frame, and hauled the wreckage away. With any luck, the surrounding grass would soon grow over the flat square in the meadow, concealing the smooth scar that remained where the well once had been.  
  
Kagome had gone to see Kaede, looking for tools. The older woman had mentioned that Kagome's friends were searching for her, and that they had been collecting the shards as they had before. Soon, Kagome would join them.  
  
She was fully committed to the quest, removed from both her family and her teacher. She was alone, dedicated, and. . . and terrified.  
  
At the age of eighteen, when Kagome had thought she would be in college and worrying about her grades, it seemed a bit unfair that her worries were so much more fatal. Confronted with the reality of loss and death, she felt herself waver.  
  
Kagome looked down at her hands, now callused and strong. It was true that the previous months had made her into a tougher opponent, but when she thought about the fact that she would be going up against an enemy that had defeated people wiser and stronger than she was, it was difficult to feel reassured.  
  
A battle for survival loomed in her future. Kagome felt completely unprepared for the responsibilities and choices would inevitably come. She was still trying to deal with the fact that those who had nurtured her in the past months were dead.  
  
Ultimately, the fate of the Hayashi family had been caused by her, however indirectly. She was not ready for more loss. She didn't think she could take it, and the thought of engaging Naraku in that future, final battle made her guts twist inside her.  
  
But. . .  
  
Intellectually, she knew that she wasn't completely unprepared. Her mother had raised her, and Aya had taught her to fight. Kagome had been engaged in the beginning skirmishes of a war almost every weekend of her teenage years. She couldn't even remember what had occupied her free time before she had first been dragged through the well.  
  
And, though it all seemed overwhelming, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Shippou would be with her once they found each other again. . .  
  
Kagome nodded firmly, and drew her legs up in front of her, resting her cheek on her knee, trying to ignore the smell of blood that clung to her clothing.  
  
Perhaps Naraku had destroyed people stronger than herself in the past, but he hadn't yet destroyed her, she thought fiercely. Despite the pain in Kagome's heart and the fear that lurked in her mind, she felt a tendril of optimism blooming within her.  
  
"He's not going to beat me," Kagome murmured to herself between clenched teeth. "He's not going to beat US. We may take some losses - but we won't lose." Her weapon-roughened hands flexed unconsciously, and she felt her own strength. "Before this is over, he'll wish the fall off that cliff had killed him."  
  
Though she sounded strong, Kagome heard the brittle edge beneath her words, and closed her eyes against the tears that fought to fall. She. . . she had never felt so lost.  
  
Kagome squeezed her eyes shut, unable to hide from the truth any longer. She felt a raw, soul-deep pain at the thought of the Hayashi family. They had cared for her, supporting her even though they had had little reason to take her in and teach her.  
  
But. . . it wasn't as simple as that. There was another side to it – a side that made her cringe in shame.  
  
Though Kagome didn't want to admit it, behind all the grief she felt at their deaths, she was glad it hadn't been her. She was glad to be alive, even though Aya, Seiji and Kazuo had died so horribly. Though she wished she had been there to fight, to help protect them, another part of her was overjoyed that she hadn't been there. Another, cowardly part of her was elated that she hadn't faced that test.  
  
Despite it all, Kagome was fiercely glad to be alive, and she felt like the lowest of creatures because of it. If anyone should have been killed as a result of Naraku's machinations, it should have been her. She had known what she was getting into. Aya's family hadn't really had a stake in the fight.  
  
A rustle sounded, and Kagome raised her head to find that Sesshoumaru was standing in front of her, backlit by the orange blaze of the setting sun.  
  
"It is done," he said simply.  
  
The warm light of the day's end lit the planes of his face as he turned slightly, and held his hand outstretched to help her up. At that moment, looking at him, Kagome came to a painful realization.  
  
They might win, but that didn't mean that she'd live through it. She could die. She might never return to her time. She had no idea how to get back, even if she lived long enough for that to become an issue.  
  
While the thought saddened Kagome, it was strangely liberating as well.  
  
Kagome was tired of denying herself. She was tired of putting things off in the hopes that a better time would come. Maybe better times would come, but she couldn't bank on the fact that she would be there to see them. She. . . she had cheated death many times already, and she knew that if it had found her – if she had been in the hut when the red sky had come tumbling down – she would have regretted fighting this.  
  
She would have regretted putting Sesshoumaru off, even though she was scared of whatever it was between them.  
  
Things would probably get complicated, she acknowledged. Things might get messy, but those factors seemed to carry less weight now. Her life had already become tangled lately, what with the nonstop trauma of the past two of days. If anything, she thought a little bitterly, it might be good to dive in before she accumulated any more crippling emotional baggage.  
  
Maybe it didn't matter that a certain party was smug and entirely too sure of himself. That was just the way he was. If she was to be completely honest, Kagome had to admit to herself that she happened to like him like that. It was sort of comforting to be with someone who had no doubts about his worth, even if it made him prone to being tactless and bossy.  
  
At least, she thought, he was honest. Maybe it was time she was more honest, too. Death was at her heels, and the odds weren't good that her luck would hold.  
  
Kagome closed her eyes and felt the spring of healthy grass beneath her, and the cool brush of the clean breeze over her skin.  
  
She wanted to live - to take whatever life had to offer her, while she still had the option. Aya had told her to find things to fight for, and Kagome thought that maybe this strange but persistent desire, these new and overwhelming feelings – maybe they were something she shouldn't turn away from. Not when, in just one horrible moment, lives ended for no apparent reason.  
  
Kagome blinked at the thought, and then looked at Sesshoumaru - really looked at him, for what seemed like the first time since he had found her the previous night in the woods.  
  
He was still offering his hand to help her up, though he looked a bit irritated at her delay. But still, there was no uncertainty on his face. He had no doubt that she would take his hand eventually, so he just stood there in the red glow of deepening dusk, patiently waiting for her to come to her senses.  
  
Kagome met Sesshoumaru's look with the first real smile she had worn since her life had been upended in a storm of fire and blood.  
  
He was waiting for her to catch up to him, she thought to herself. He was waiting for her to accept him.  
  
Another sun was setting, and time would stop for no one.  
  
Without further hesitation, Kagome took Sesshoumaru's waiting hand in hers, and pulled herself to her feet. And when he got that look in his eyes – the one that usually preceded some obliquely derisive comment - Kagome raised herself on her tiptoes, tugged his face down to hers, and kissed him.  
  
**********  
  
Sesshoumaru stilled as Kagome wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his in desperate welcome. His body reacted to her almost immediately as she opened her mouth under his. The sensations of arousal rushing through Sesshoumaru were immediately joined by the blazing satisfaction of conquest, and something infinitely sweeter.  
  
The tip of his tongue rasped against the skin at her neck, tasting the tang of blood that wasn't hers. He should have been repulsed by her human flavour and the foul taste of old blood, but the effect on him seemed to be the opposite. The dark, animal urges that were the source of his demonic strength strained at the bonds of his reason, and responded violently. He reveled in the evidence of her strength, and in the traces that her kills left on her body.  
  
Even that was different this time, he thought distantly. Sesshoumaru had never felt desire like this for any of the youkai females that sought him out. Their bodies held a strength that could rival his, but their avaricious eyes turned down in submission and fear when he expressed even the slightest displeasure.  
  
This, however, was Kagome. It was her mouth that opened to him, her hands that trembled on his shoulders. She had fought him, argued with him, and challenged him at every turn. Occasionally, she displayed large lapses in common sense. For some reason, the warmth of her body against his made him feel lightheaded, as though he were propelled by a dark, driving hunger.  
  
His unprecedented eagerness was enough to give him pause.  
  
Before, he had intended to lie with her, secure in the knowledge that she would go back to her world when all was over. With a little discretion, all evidence of their brief association would disappear with her. It would have been simple.  
  
Now, she was to stay indefinitely. Though that made the situation quite different, Sesshoumaru through the heavy haze of lust that enveloped him, he still wanted her. Had to have her, actually, he registered with mild surprise as he yanked his bulky armor free of his body.  
  
She moaned into his mouth as his fingers slipped beneath the hem of her shirt, meeting the bare skin of her back.  
  
Miko. Human.  
  
It would be a blight on his name.  
  
Sesshoumaru's eyes closed in pleasure as Kagome bit into his lower lip and pressed impatiently against him. The image of the world beyond the well flashed beneath his eyelids.  
  
Five centuries was not a very long time, Sesshoumaru thought dimly. If the world of youkai were to fall. . . if his dominion were to cease to be. . .  
  
Sesshoumaru slowly sank to his knees in the grass, bringing Kagome's slight weight with him, and kissed her deeply. He could taste her desire for him in her mouth, and saw a shadow of uncertainty in her eyes.  
  
If his world would wink out of existence so quickly, Sesshoumaru thought, then he would indulge himself. Just this once, with Kagome, because he had the suspicion that he had no real choice in the matter.  
  
She sucked his tongue between her lips with an almost desperate fervor, and he noted the way her fingers dug into his arms, the way she shook against him. And he wondered, with all that had happened, what had made her so much more amenable to what he wanted.  
  
Kagome looked confused as he pulled away from her and stilled her hands with his. When she leaned forward, he stopped her, pinning her with a sharp, amber stare.  
  
"What is it?" she asked breathlessly, trying to calm her pulse, trying to hide the sadness in her eyes.  
  
Sesshoumaru seemed to search her face. "I will not be used," he stated firmly, settling his hands on her waist. Hesitantly, as though she was afraid he would pull away again, Kagome leaned forward until her temple rested against his shoulder.  
  
"I. . . what?" Kagome mumbled, still sort of fuzzy-headed.  
  
"You want to forget; I will not be used that way," he explained. His voice sounded low and taut to Kagome's ears, as though he was keeping something firmly in check.  
  
At that, Kagome's head jerked up, and she glared. "I. . . I wouldn't do that. I don't want to forget. I just. . ."  
  
Kagome's mouth snapped shut. She wasn't really inclined to have this sort of conversation at this particular point in time. Nestling her head against his shoulder, she tried to avoid his unnerving gaze. "I. . . I guess it's weird, but I can't imagine. . . you know. . . with anyone else," she explained shakily. "and I don't want to wait anymore, not when. . ."  
  
Sesshoumaru continued to sit there, completely unmoving.  
  
Kagome pressed her face more tightly against his chest. "I. . . I don't want to pretend I don't want you anymore. And if you're just going to sit there like a rock for more than thirty more seconds, could you please kill me? Because this is completely unbearable," she muttered into the muffling fabric.  
  
Thankfully, that seemed to be good enough for him, because he suddenly dragged her into his lap and shrugged his shoulders rather gracelessly out of the heavy silk that kept him from her. And, when Kagome made a soft noise in her throat at the sight of him, leaning forward to run her tongue over his collarbone, Sesshoumaru's heart pounded in a new, wholly alien way.  
  
The dark and irrational something that lived deep within him seemed to stretch itself, reveling in its sudden freedom after being suppressed for too long.  
  
Kagome's eyes moved slowly down Sesshoumaru's body as he shut his eyes, locking his feral growl tightly in his throat.  
  
He was so. . . so perfect, Kagome thought in admiration - so strong and alive. The pale, golden skin of his chest seemed to glow faintly in the warm evening light, and he arched slowly beneath her as she ran her hands firmly over the broad expanse. The defined muscle of his stomach rippled with the slow movement, only to freeze as she raked her fingernails teasingly over his nipples.  
  
A thrill ran through her at the thought of all his strength and power lying barely leashed between her spread thighs. The silk folds of his clothing fell to either side of his torso in disarray as she shoved the obstructing material unceremoniously aside. Her fingers curled tightly into fabric that still held the memory of his body heat.  
  
Bracing her weight on her hands, she leaned forward, and ran her teeth teasingly over the firm line of his clenched jaw, before shifting upwards to cover his pleasure-parted mouth with her own. Her tongue slid into his mouth, exploring the hot satin of his cheek, the rough texture of his tongue, and the sharp tips of his fangs.  
  
Sesshoumaru made a soft sound in his throat as he reciprocated, meshing their mouths together more firmly. Then, his palms found her still-clothed breasts, and she was suddenly moaning helplessly under the squeezing caress. Kagome made a sound of protest as his warm hands left her, only to close her eyes in approval as he jerked the hem of her shirt up and out of his way. She distantly praised the lack of tricky fasteners on her sports bra as his tongue dove feverishly into her mouth.  
  
Before she had time to register what he intended, Sesshoumaru gripped her waist and pulled her up and away from his kiss. She shivered as his mouth moved lazily over the pink line on her ribs where elastic had bit into her skin, and then higher.  
  
A deep, burning pleasure seemed to blaze through Kagome's body. It felt as though all her nerve endings had decided to pack up and move to where he touched her. Her fingers clenched into the softness of his hair as her breath caught in a moan. Then, Sesshoumaru's strong hands guided her hips downward until the very core of her rested against his belly.  
  
Kagome gasped quietly at the evidence that a whole lot of nerve endings had stayed right where they ought to be. She felt hungry and restless as she shifted her body against his, searching for more.  
  
The click of claws against the button of her fly distracted Kagome slightly. With clumsy motions, she managed to reach down and undo the fastening, barely even hearing the dull sound of her zipper over the roar of blood in her ears. Sesshoumaru made a quiet sound of satisfaction as he rolled her to her back and then rose onto his knees. He yanked her pants and panties off her legs with one hard tug, and then sat back, looking at her with such desire in his eyes that Kagome's embarrassment at her nudity faded even before it was fully formed. As quickly as she could manage, Kagome pulled her top off, and flushed deeply with want as Sesshoumaru advanced on her, a faint flush spreading over his cheekbones, each movement filled with aroused, predatory grace.  
  
Kagome reached up to him and tugged him down, gasping at the sensation of his clothed hips against the tender skin of her inner thighs. The warm blades of grass beneath her back caressed her skin like a thousand feathery fingers. It was her turn to fumble at his waistband with eager fingers. Kagome's brow furrowed in frustration as she yanked on the sash and the fabric ties that held his clothing on his hips. The whole assembly seemed to be tied in a series of completely unintuitive, youkai-strength knots.  
  
Sesshoumaru almost smiled at the look of irritation on Kagome's face, but then she stopped battling with the fabric, choosing instead to stroke her fingers curiously over him.  
  
Suddenly, Sesshoumaru found the whole matter of his clothing less amusing. He undid the knots with a blend of swift efficiency and brute strength, before casting his garments aside, almost tearing the material in the process.  
  
Then, they were both naked. Kagome stared down the length of his body with wide eyes, drinking in the sight. He lowered himself onto her, caressing the whole surface of her skin with his own. The sensation was so stunning that she gasped something vaguely resembling his name.  
  
Sesshoumaru pulled back slightly and sat back, causing Kagome to blink in confusion. Then, he lifted her, pulling her close until she straddled his thighs.  
  
He leaned forward, losing himself in the smell of her, and then subjected her earlobe to teasing suction. She liked that, he thought.  
  
"Touch me," he murmured.  
  
Kagome slowly ran her fingers through his long hair, lightly tracing the delicate edge of an ear before drawing her palms over the smooth skin of his chest. There, unsure of how to proceed, Kagome hesitated. Sesshoumaru's fingers circled the wrist that rested on his shoulder. Slowly, he brought her palm to his mouth and moistened the sensitive skin there with his tongue. The velvet, electric heat of his mouth lingered over the lines on her skin, the whorls on her fingertips, and the delicate web where her fingers joined. Then, he guided her fingers down between their bodies.  
  
Kagome's wide dark eyes met his in shock and curiosity as her hand curled reflexively around him, intrigued at the pulse she could feel against her fingertips. Still guiding her, Sesshoumaru began a leisurely motion, head falling back as she started to take the initiative.  
  
Kagome was hypnotized by the helpless working of his exposed throat. The way he looked at her beneath drooping eyelids, the way his breathing roughened, the way he twisted his hips as she adjusted her grip – it all made her feel powerful, and her body answered his arousal with its own.  
  
Sesshoumaru eyes opened as he felt her pull her hand from him, and a protest hung on his lips.  
  
"Uhm," she murmured as the hue of her cheeks deepened to a rather fetching shade of plum, "sorry?"  
  
Sesshoumaru didn't quite hear her.  
  
"Don't stop," he commanded hoarsely. After about half a second of nigh- unbearable waiting, Sesshoumaru unceremoniously tipped her back onto the grass. In one swift motion, he tugged her thighs over his shoulders, and pressed one hand to her stomach.  
  
"Gwaah!" he heard her yell faintly through the silky thighs that muffled his ears. He might have smiled, but at that particular moment, he had far better things to do with his mouth.  
  
"Gweh!" Kagome's cry sounded more plaintive this time, Sesshoumaru noted distantly. The taste of her sent shocks through his entire body, causing warmth to throb through him. She was finally unfolding under his mouth like he had wanted for so long. He couldn't stop. He groaned as she tightened, and imagined how those slick, hot muscles would feel around -  
  
"Mrrrrrh," Kagome mumbled weakly as her vision went grey for one whirling moment. Her fingers clenched in Sesshoumaru's soft hair as he. . . well, she had no real clue what precisely he was up to down there, but it was all rated fifteen out of ten on the 'ohmigod' meter. She couldn't think properly, and oh god. She felt ready to jump out of her skin. The strong hand braced against her belly kept her mostly still, but then he tipped his head to the side, and she could feel the shift of his jaw as he did something that was rated twenty out of ten. Kagome's body awarded him a little gold star, leaping like a live wire as it shook off the bonds of her control.  
  
When Kagome finally managed to stop flopping around, she pushed herself up a little and looked down, blushing. She couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, but that feeling quickly faded at the sight of his flushed cheeks and closed eyes as he buried his mouth against her. He looked perfectly happy to be down there, blowing her mind, Kagome thought hazily.  
  
Then, when Sesshoumaru pulled his mouth away from her and looked at her, Kagome felt a smidgen of fear.  
  
He looked positively starved.  
  
She shivered when he bent his head again, and his warm breath washed over her aching flesh, and then he was doing that swirly thing again, and then. . .  
  
Kagome crushed her hands into the grass, pulling green blades up by the handful as all the pleasure in her body seemed to slam together at the point where he sucked her delicately into his mouth. Then, she couldn't stop shaking in the extremity of her pleasure. She felt her entire being lock in a cycle of spasm and release, as though Sesshoumaru was teaching her body a rhythm that she had been waiting all her life to dance to. All the while, he continued to pant against her, lapping at her slowly like a happy cat.  
  
After a little while of lying there like a noodle, Kagome suddenly felt cold. Her vision cleared, and she saw that Sesshoumaru had gotten to his feet, and had gone some distance away. "Hey," she mumbled weakly at his retreating backside - and quite a riveting backside it was. Where was he going? What was he doing?  
  
He was. . . he was crouched over her pack, going through her stuff? Kagome's numb brain worked slowly, and came to some very strange conclusions.  
  
He'd incapacitated her with his evil mouth, and now he was going to steal her things, she thought indignantly. That sexy, thieving, muscular, morally bankrupt, beautiful, totally ruthless. . . mmm. Ruthless. . .  
  
Kagome shook herself.  
  
"What. . . hey, that's really rude!" she accused in pathetic tones, too depleted to defend her belongings from his apparent looting.  
  
But he soon returned, bearing her sleeping bag, much to her confusion. He shook it out over the grass next to her, before nudging Kagome in its direction. When she proved too slow to move, he snorted, picked her up bodily, and tossed her onto it with what she thought was a distinct shortage of gentlemanly decorum.  
  
"Ooof!" Kagome huffed as she landed on her back. She made a feeble attempt to rise, but gave up when she realized that her limbs were still too noodle- like for comfort. They weren't even firm, like udon - they were more along the lines of soggy instant ramen left in hot water for twenty minutes.  
  
At any rate, Kagome had very little time to go any further with her in- depth noodle comparisons. The hungry look on Sesshoumaru's face was intensifying to a truly alarming degree as he slowly crawled up her prone body. The sleepy, hazy feeling of well-being that Kagome had been enjoying - despite her tooth-rattling landing on the sleeping bag - swiftly faded.  
  
Belatedly, she came to the realization that they were lying completely naked in the middle of the grassy clearing. It wasn't even dark yet.  
  
Kagome inched backwards slightly as Sesshoumaru braced himself on his forearms above her, and her renewing desire for him started to war with long-delayed embarrassment at her apparent lack of shame.  
  
"Um," she piped up, even as her shaky fingers reached down of their own will to trace the muscles of his stomach. Sesshoumaru made a soft sound of anticipation, moving his hips so her fingers brushed the part of him that ached the most for her touch.  
  
That, he thought in disgruntlement as she pulled startled hand away from him, was not nearly enough.  
  
"Anyone could walk by. . ." Despite her sudden bashfulness, Kagome couldn't stop her wide-eyed stare from moving over his wet mouth, down to the rippling muscles of his chest and stomach, and lower.  
  
Sesshoumaru was less than pleased with the way Kagome was inching away from him. He lifted his head and tilted it slightly to the side, trying to hear over the thundering of his heart.  
  
"No one is approaching," he concluded thickly. In fact, he couldn't be sure over the roaring in his ears. In any case, the point was moot; if he had his way, anyone taking an evening stroll in their direction was sure to meet a quick and silent end.  
  
And he always had his way. In fact, he was about to have his way, he thought with satisfaction, as his hand moved to tug Kagome's knee upwards, and then paused to stroke her thigh.  
  
She made an audible gulping noise at the warmth of his palm on her skin. "But. . ." she breathed, "someone might-"  
  
"There is no movement for some distance," Sesshoumaru said, defusing her line of argument. Before she could come up with some other silly reason to stop, he ducked his head to nuzzle her neck, tongue flicking against her pulse-point in a way that was carefully engineered to remind her of the pleasure he could offer her.  
  
Kagome exhaled. "Oh," she murmured. Perhaps there was acceptance in the word, but Sesshoumaru was not inclined to wait around in case there wasn't.  
  
Kagome's dark eyes rounded as Sesshoumaru parted her legs further so that he could lie between them. "Hi," she said feebly in response, staring wide- eyed into Sesshoumaru's predatory yellow irises. A momentary look of perplexity crossed his features, but he soon remembered that it was best to ignore such things. Sometimes, Kagome's train of thought was just too convoluted for any sane person to follow.  
  
With a minute shrug of his shoulders, Sesshoumaru lowered his face slowly to Kagome's, and ran his tongue over the seam of her slightly parted lips before covering them with his.  
  
Kagome's arms slowly rose to embrace him, settling on the back of his neck and the small of his back. She welcomed his mouth with hers, making a quiet 'mm' sound as she realized that he tasted different. . .  
  
He tasted of her.  
  
Sesshoumaru rocked his hips against Kagome's in approval of her renewed participation. She was still sensitive, and the shock of the contact made her fingers curl desperately into his skin.  
  
The hungry emptiness in her belly started to build again, deeper this time around. She pressed herself up against the warm body that covered hers, seeking more of that smooth, sweet pressure. Kagome's head fell back with a rustle against the weatherproof fabric of her sleeping bag.  
  
Sesshoumaru watched with overwhelming desire as Kagome's hair spread like a black sunburst behind her. She bared her neck to his mouth as her thighs fell wide to welcome him.  
  
She was beautiful, he thought wildly in the back of his mind. The sight of her made his mouth dry.  
  
Blinking at his sudden inability to organize his thoughts, Sesshoumaru bent his mouth to her neck, taking the skin lightly between his teeth as he rocked firmly against her. He almost cried out at the sensation of her gliding against him.  
  
Sesshoumaru didn't think he could wait anymore. He saw, with some shock, that his arms were quaking with tension.  
  
He raised his silver head, lifted his hand, and touched the swell of her lips with unsteady fingers. Then, lowering his face to hers in an almost- kiss, he murmured almost soundlessly into her trembling mouth. "Let me in," he commanded in a voice thick with promise.  
  
He pressed against her, and Kagome swallowed audibly, eyes squeezed shut, thighs tensing briefly at either side of Sesshoumaru's body. Then, her arms tightened around him, and lifted herself up, tongue soft against his.  
  
"I will go slowly," he murmured as he pulled away, lungs reaching for air.  
  
Kagome's eyes opened and she met his gaze levelly, nodding. Her bangs brushed Sesshoumaru's cheek, and even that shadow of a touch made his breath catch. "Okay," she whispered, moving her hands to rest on his hips. Sesshoumaru swallowed at the look of frank desire on her flushed face. "Just. . . I need you."  
  
Sesshoumaru stopped his teasing motions and then started to press forward, slow and sure.  
  
She bit her lip. It burned. It wasn't excruciating, but the sensation of her body stretching for him was almost too intense.  
  
Then, she looked up into his face, and started to forget about the discomfort, because he looked. . . he looked positively feral, trembling as he rocked against her.  
  
His eyes had narrowed to ambers slits, gleaming and inhuman in his flushed face, and his lips had pulled back to bare the gleaming points of fangs that were normally hidden. The strain of holding back for her pulled his features taut, and the way he was looking at her made her feel like he wanted to devour her whole.  
  
All that desire was for her, Kagome thought. A fierce feeling of pride overtook her.  
  
She had done that to him, she thought hazily. The thought that Sesshoumaru, so beautiful and self-assured, could want her so much sent fire racing through her body. Slowly, the dull pain that accompanied his slow, careful penetration was joined by a growing pleasure. She had thought about him – his hands, his mouth, his body – so many times. And this time, he was here with her. She wasn't alone in the dark anymore, body burning for him, wondering. . .  
  
Kagome's arms encircled Sesshoumaru's neck and she tugged him closer, shivering at the whisper of his silky hair on her skin, and the damp warmth of his laboured breathing on her cheek. The slow, hot stroke of his entry went dark and sharp with pleasure as he glided against the part of her that he'd found with his tongue before.  
  
Kagome started to think that she was beginning to understand the big deal people made about this, because it was starting to feel incredible, and she wanted more.  
  
Sesshoumaru adjusted the angle of his hips, and Kagome's breath hitched. She made a sound that she was shocked to hear from her own lips - shuddering and needy.  
  
Arms aching from the tension, Sesshoumaru started to lose the fight against the imperatives of lust. His eyes narrowed at the sounds Kagome made, and the way her fingers curled into his nape as her lips brushed his earlobe. At some point, she had hooked her leg over one of his, and she was beginning to press up to meet him, breathing in shallow pants.  
  
Sesshoumaru realized that he was about to lose the control he had been clinging to. Incredulous, he pushed himself up slightly to look at her, groaning at the way she pushed up against him, every muscle tensed.  
  
At the slight movement, Kagome's eyes opened to stare into his. She looked drugged, he thought with growing desperation as he watched her tremble, skin shimmering with perspiration. Then, her hands left his neck and settled on his hips. All of her body seemed to pull him closer – the circle of her arms, the leg twining with his– and he couldn't overrule the demands of his flesh.  
  
Sesshoumaru bit back a cry as her heat tightened in a creamy caress that made his vision blur. Then, he heard a guttural sound rip from his throat as he moved instinctively, answering her silent command.  
  
"Ow!" Kagome grunted. His eyelids had clamped down, and when they lifted again, he looked as stunned as she was.  
  
Kagome was suddenly afraid.  
  
The pain was quickly fading, and what was left was a completely new sensation that was a hundred times more intense. Kagome felt completely exposed, naked in a way that she knew had nothing to do with nudity. It made her want to pull away and run, because this couldn't be normal. This had to be a different act from the one that people were so casual about. . .  
  
But then, Sesshoumaru was bending his head to hers, lapping at the tears she hadn't even noticed on her cheeks. Kagome pressed up into the touch, and was reassured when she felt the way his arms shook.  
  
And she started to think that maybe he felt it too.  
  
Sesshoumaru crushed her mouth almost violently under his, growling into her parted lips. He felt a surge of animal satisfaction at the thought that, no matter what happened, Kagome would forever remember him as the first.  
  
As he started to rock himself against her, feeling her response to his movements, Sesshoumaru resolved in the primitive depths of his mind that she would find anyone else lacking in comparison. He would make her remember him in the way he was certain he would remember her.  
  
She was Kagome, whom he had thought of so often; Kagome, for whom he had waited so long, despite the strength of his lust for her.  
  
As Sesshoumaru sank back inside her, he was reminded of her delicacy. Kagome winced. He pulled back slightly, feeling her teeth sink into his lower lip in protest. Then, keeping her sealed against him, he drew her knees up beside his hips, and then turned them both over so she straddled him. He exhaled at even that small shift of skin on skin, shocked at the pleasure it gave him.  
  
"Move on me," he muttered impatiently into her ear as he sat up, warm thumbs ghosting over her skin. Kagome's eyes drifted closed as he bent to her, and she braced her hands on his shoulders, beginning a slow, gliding rhythm.  
  
The thrill of being in control combined with the knowledge that he was being careful not to hurt her washed over Kagome in a wave of fierce tenderness. Her body demanded more.  
  
From the way his hands grasped her hips, mouth opening against her skin in a silent moan, he liked it too.  
  
Sesshoumaru was unable to tear his eyes from her. He eased one smooth knuckle over the spot that burned for him. She fell forward and pressed her mouth against his neck, shaking with her ragged breathing, muscles escaping her control as she teetered on the edge she had been running towards.  
  
Swiftly, Sesshoumaru turned her onto her back, patience exhausted. His mouth found Kagome's earlobe blindly, nipping at the tender flesh. He ran his hands hastily up over the sweat-slick skin of her sides, before he found her wrists and pressed them firmly to the grass above where they lay.  
  
Dark tendrils of hair clung wetly to her temples and shoulders, and her lips were wet and from his. She lay panting and radiant beneath him, hips still rolling slightly as she instinctively tried to find their earlier rhythm. The sight of her abandonment, of the hunger that matched his, slammed through Sesshoumaru's body like a wave of liquid lightning.  
  
He snarled. When he moved, it was all animal, stripped of grace by the force of the lust that was distilling in his veins. His need began to climb more quickly than ever before.  
  
"Oh gods," Kagome exclaimed huskily.  
  
Sesshoumaru hissed her name between his teeth as she angled her hips up towards him, her body arching like a bow. Kagome's wrists strained beneath his grip as she pressed herself up against him, emitted a choked cry at the heat that seemed to blaze through her entire body. "Do that again," she demanded raggedly. "Please," she prodded with an edge of desperation, squirming against him.  
  
Unable to contain the sounds that fought to escape him, Sesshoumaru began, voicing his approval with inarticulate noises. Kagome met each movement with her own. It was too good, Sesshoumaru thought distantly with a vague sense of alarm.  
  
The sounds and smells of their union filled Sesshoumaru's head. The rush of stimuli so overwhelmed him that Kagome's shaky voice barely brushed his ears, echoing as they were with the thundering of their hearts, and the harsh rasp of lungs gasping for breath. She was finally allowing him to learn every inch of her internal topography. . .  
  
It wasn't until she yanked particularly hard at his hands that he realized he was still pinning her down. "Please," she moaned, moving against him in a near-crisis of desire. "Let me. . . touch you. . . please?"  
  
Sesshoumaru released her, bracing himself up on his forearms. Then, he felt the firm pressure of her hands sliding over his overheated, damp skin. She ran her fingers down his back, as he rolled against the cradle of her body. He leaned down to catch a bead of perspiration on the tip of his tongue as it slid slowly down her temple.  
  
Never had Kagome ever imagined anything like this. A twinge of the panic from before penetrated her fever. She hadn't been prepared for this. Nothing could have prepared her for this. It was too much, and it would change everything. She hadn't realized that she would feel this raw closeness. The smell of the grass, the rustle of the fabric beneath them, the way he scorched her both inside and out, the way his hair fell around them, settling so cool and soft on her overheating skin. . . it was all too much.  
  
However, when Kagome tipped her head back and watched him with startled, pleasure-hooded eyes, she saw something in him that made that aching feeling in her chest return.  
  
He looked just as abandoned, and breathed just as raggedly. His molten, golden eyes fixed on her with an expression that was unguarded and filled with need. The look on his flushed face mirrored what she was certain was on hers.  
  
Wonderingly, she touched his cheek. Her fingers traced the now-ragged edges of his vivid markings. Kagome inhaled softly as he turned his face into her hand, pressing an openmouthed kiss in her palm before raking the sensitive skin with his teeth.  
  
And the fear went away. Over the roaring demands of her flesh, and the shuddering impact of his body against hers, Kagome registered that it should have felt at least a little wrong to be doing this - especially with him, especially now.  
  
But it didn't. Instead, it felt like. . .  
  
Her thoughts were driven from her mind as he snarled into her ear, and she turned to find his mouth with hers.  
  
Instead, it felt like some miracle of balance was taking place: male and female, youkai and miko, past and present. Kagome never wanted it to end, but she could already feel that tension pooling. . . that tension that made her whole body tighten in anticipation, the waves of freezing heat that shot through her. . .  
  
Sesshoumaru kissed her neck, raking her skin with his teeth and nuzzling at her throat as their movements grew more impatient. Then, he was reaching between them to touch her, and the feathery caress was enough to make her arch like a bow and cry out into the pale strands of his hair as the first tremors took her.  
  
Kagome's arms and legs locked around him, drawing him closer as her body pressed fiercely against his. Tears gathered in her eyes at the desperate shuddering that gripped her.  
  
Their eyes met, locking in a union even more powerful than the mating of their bodies. As though from a distance, Sesshoumaru heard himself whimper her name as his clawed fingers curled into the grass. He jerked, and then a relentless, almost painful pleasure coursed through him.  
  
Sesshoumaru made a low, bestial noise as he pressed his face against hers, too lost in sensation to do anything more than cover her open mouth with his in a primitive approximation of a kiss.  
  
They lay still for a while as the spasms died. As Sesshoumaru's pulse and breathing slowed to normal levels, he felt a growing sense of unease.  
  
He felt. . . strange, he realized.  
  
More minutes crawled by in silence, and Sesshoumaru started to wonder a little. It was unlike Kagome to be quiet for long.  
  
Gradually, he became aware of the fact that he was still lying on top of Kagome's smaller form. Youkai strength was due in part to the high density of bone and muscle tissue, and Sesshoumaru was far stronger than most. Carefully, he turned onto his back and tugged her to lie on top of him.  
  
"Kagome," he murmured against the top of her head.  
  
The only response he received was a quiet, snuffling noise. Kagome bent her head slightly, as though trying to avoid the sound of his voice.  
  
At the lack of reply, he started to question Kagome's sudden, unexpected acquiescence. Sesshoumaru was unaware of the way his arms tightened around her waist at the thought that she might regret it, after all.  
  
"Kagome," he repeated.  
  
The silence deepened until the sound of her slowing breath was deafening to his ears. It wasn't until Sesshoumaru inhaled to say something scathing that he noticed the telltale laxness in her limbs, and the warm line of moisture on his shoulder.  
  
He looked down in disbelief, only to find his suspicions confirmed. Kagome was drooling on him, having fallen asleep. At least, Sesshoumaru mused, she had best be asleep, if he were to suffer such an insult to his person.  
  
Tilting his head to a truly uncomfortable angle, he saw that she was indeed unconscious. Dark eyelashes lay like fans on her cheeks. Her mouth hung slightly open.  
  
Sesshoumaru raised his hand to tip her chin up, closing jaw with a click. It was a futile gesture; as soon as his supporting fingers pulled away, her mouth slowly began to fall back open.  
  
Sighing wearily, Sesshoumaru lay his head back down against the blanket, and resigned himself to his fate. Moving slowly so as to avoid disturbing Kagome, he managed to pull the material enough to the side so that he could fold it over them, creating a barrier between the cold air and still-damp skin.  
  
And, he thought indignantly as he peeked down at Kagome's dark hair, his skin was only getting damper. But she looked so satisfied and peaceful that he couldn't bring himself to wake her. He remembered that she hadn't had any rest since he had found her, and that she had to be completely exhausted by now.  
  
Sesshoumaru simply lay back and watched the sky darken. He started to become a little bored as he waited for Kagome to wake, so he listened closely for any hint of threat. Finding none, he allowed his eyes to fall shut, as Kagome's warmth and the lulling sound of her breathing washed over him.  
  
**********  
  
Kaede trudged slowly up the path, adjusting her grip on the basket she carried with a sigh.  
  
Lately, it had become more difficult for her to act as the miko of the village. The place had an unfortunate tendency to attract trouble, and it was a sad fact that she simply wasn't as spry as she had once been. Also, the woman mused, her problems with depth perception certainly didn't help; it was a miracle that she was able to hit anything with an arrow.  
  
It was a pity that Kikyou-oneesama had perished so young, Kaede thought sadly. There were few local girls who had any interest in their line of work. Of those who did, even fewer had even a fraction of the gift that Kikyou had been born with.  
  
Kagome, however, had power in spades. Even though Kaede had only seen her for a few moments earlier that evening, she had sensed the energy that radiated from the girl who so resembled her sister. Kaede had been stunned at the sight of Kagome, battle-worn and covered in drying blood. The girl had looked so different from the happy child of before – shoulders bent with sadness, and determination shining from hardened eyes.  
  
More than that, though, Kaede had been intrigued by the fact that Kagome's power now felt so different from Kikyou's. Kikyou's energy had always been steady, focused, and controlled. Kagome, on the other hand, seemed to blaze like an unpredictable star. Kaede was not sure whether the difference was a function of being trained later in life, but she was starting to wonder if Kagome was, in fact, Kikyou's reincarnation after all.  
  
It was starting to seem as though Kagome's strength could put Kikyou- oneesama's to shame, Kaede realized with some apprehension. She hefted the basket and quickened her pace. Nevertheless, the old miko thought brusquely, a girl still needed to eat no matter how powerful she became. Kaede had expected Kagome to return to the village for supper, but hours had passed since then.  
  
Kaede stepped out of the trees surrounding the clearing, and blinked several times in rapid succession.  
  
"Oh. Oh, my," she sputtered. The basket slipped from her fingers. Well, Kaede thought through her surprise. If Kagome and Kikyou-oneesama had one thing in common, it was definitely their abominable taste in men.  
  
Crossing her arms over her sturdy frame, Kaede looked around with stunned amusement at the haphazard scattering of clothing, weapons, and armor surrounding what had once been the bone-eater's well. Kagome's pack lay on its side, spilling its contents over the grass. Two swords - one humble in appearance, and the other radiating leashed youki – lay flung carelessly aside next to Kagome's footwear. A very familiar set of armor had fallen a small distance away on a bed of fur, and a scrap of cloth that Kaede could only assume was an undergarment of some kind dangled off one of the spikes.  
  
In the midst of the chaos, a familiar dark head poked out from the folds of a sleeping bag. Kagome stirred slightly from where she lay - on the broad chest belonging to the mussed, sleeping taiyoukai of the West.  
  
Kaede had suspected some connection between the two. Now that her suspicions had been confirmed, she wasn't sure whether she should start laughing hysterically, or wish for blindness in her good eye.  
  
Blindness it was, Kaede concluded abruptly. A slight, hand-sized lump beneath the blanket had begun to move, and halted its exodus only once it had come to rest on the mound of Kagome's posterior.  
  
Paralyzed by horror, Kaede was rendered unable to close her eye against the frightening images. The old woman suddenly, irrationally started to reproach herself for not bringing her spare eye-patch. Before she could will her frozen feet into motion, a rustling sound caught Kaede's attention.  
  
Kagome had awoken, and lay staring wide-eyed at Kaede. Her face flushed in mortification, even as she raised her hand to rub her eyes.  
  
"Gods. Kaede!" she whispered in shock. The girl bit her lip in shock, tripping over the words. "It's not what it looks like!" Kagome shifted her body upwards to better address the older woman, and let out a startled squeal for reasons Kaede tried incredibly hard not to infer.  
  
Then, Kaede couldn't help but infer, because Sesshoumaru let out a groan, and another hand-shaped mound came to rest near the first, clearly adjusting Kagome's position. The girl turned slightly purple and made a strange, shivery sound.  
  
"A-and," Kagome went on, trying feebly to extricate herself from Sesshoumaru's grip, "it's not what it sounds like either! I mean, we were. . . and then, there was a youkai. . . and then. . . a fight. . . and the clothes. . . a-and strip-twister. . ." Kagome's head tilted forward as she realized how ridiculous she sounded. "Oh, gods," she mumbled in humiliation.  
  
At the pathetic excuse, Kaede snorted despite herself, still rooted to the spot. "I do see the youkai," she grunted in disbelief. Then, she hastily turned her head aside, because if that blanket fell any lower, she was going to see more of the youkai than she'd ever wanted to see. She had to leave, Kaede thought distantly - if only her feet would move. . .  
  
Sesshoumaru seemed to agree with Kaede's conclusion, because the youkai in question opened one sleepy eye and, after yawning slightly, joined in the conversation. "Quiet, wench," he commanded in a remarkably irritated tone. He turned a glare on Kaede and snapped, "And you. Begone."  
  
Kaede couldn't even muster up any offense at the dismissal, since she was simply itching to make her escape. Turning, she remembered why she'd come to find them in the first place. "Food," she informed them curtly, pointing at the basket that lay on the ground as she kept her head firmly turned aside.  
  
"Noted," Sesshoumaru replied coolly. "Now, leave."  
  
"Oh gods," Kaede heard Kagome mumble behind her. "Don't call me wench. And. . . oh, gods, that's really Kaede isn't it? Kill me now."  
  
"Also noted," Sesshoumaru replied. His tone lay somewhere between irritation and amusement. "You drooled on me."  
  
Kaede, becoming more traumatized with each passing second, made her escape with an alacrity that was impressive in a woman of her advanced age.  
  
**********  
  
"Shouldn't you have heard her coming?" Kagome demanded, once she had recovered enough to speak. "I thought you didn't need sleep!"  
  
Sesshoumaru stretched slightly and closed his eyes again. "I do not need sleep, I enjoy it," he retorted coolly. "You stayed at my house briefly. Why on earth did you think I retired to my rooms at night and emerged in the morning?"  
  
"For all I knew, you were playing card-games in there, or just thinking at length about how much better than everyone else you are," Kagome said, propping herself up on her hands so she could glare at him. "Inuyasha doesn't sleep much. I just figured that you didn't, either."  
  
At that, Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and subjected Kagome to a quelling stare. "The fact that the dumb hanyou enjoys sitting and staring at trees all night does not mean I find enjoyment in similar non-activities."  
  
Kagome frowned at that. Now that she thought about it, it really was rather strange that Inuyasha could just sit still for hours and do nothing. Where was the fun in that?  
  
Sesshoumaru sniffed. "I like to sleep." Then, his eyes narrowed. "You drooled on me," he repeated.  
  
He sounded so put-out that Kagome sighed, mopping the tiny puddle in the hollow of Sesshoumaru's collarbone with a corner of her sleeping bag. Satisfied that she had restored him to a suitable state of dryness, she made sure her mouth was firmly closed, lay back down against him, and dragged the covers up over her head.  
  
Kagome was eager to ignore the fact that she had recently lost her virginity to a grumpy demon, drooled all over him, and been caught in the after-drool by Kaede. More than anything, however, she wanted to forget her sad attempt to pass the whole thing off as a violent game of strip-twister.  
  
All in all, the whole fiasco was certainly a far cry from any morning-after she had ever envisioned in her girlhood. In most of those fantasies, her faceless paramour had awakened her with pancakes, and they had stared meaningfully into one another's eyes as a random guy with a violin played somewhere nearby.  
  
Of course, that scenario seemed a little weird now, Kagome thought. It still saddened her, though, to think that the gulf between her pubescent dreams and her reality was so large. It was probably for the best, she brooded. If some guy did start playing a violin nearby, she was sure that he'd end up in bite-sized pieces, even before he could get through the first four measures of 'Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing.'  
  
"You're not going to make me pancakes, are you?" she murmured despite herself.  
  
Sesshoumaru shifted slightly when he heard the wistful note in her voice. "No," he replied. "What are they?" He frowned. Obviously, Kagome was referring to some daft human custom from the future.  
  
"Never mind," Kagome muttered sadly. "You probably just present girls with the still-beating hearts of their foes."  
  
"I am not in the habit of giving gifts," Sesshoumaru answered, deadpan. "But if I were, heads would be simpler," he continued as his arms settled more securely around her waist. "Breaking through a ribcage can be so messy."  
  
Kagome made a faint wailing sound as all her existing notions of romance died a quick and painful death. Sesshoumaru's lips curved a bit as he squeezed her. He was actually feeling quite cheerful, he realized. Obviously, he mused, sexual frustration had been taking its toll on him.  
  
"Kaede's going to think I'm a hussy," Kagome then said with a note of dawning realization.  
  
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes at the strange progression of Kagome's thoughts. It was a wonder that she managed to get anything done, given the bizarre way her mind seemed to skip from subject to subject.  
  
Sesshoumaru's opinion was only further reinforced when, completely out of the blue, she added, "I'm sleepy."  
  
He snorted softly. "You often fall asleep on me," Sesshoumaru observed. "Also, you drooled."  
  
Kagome glared. "Okay, I fell asleep. I'm sorry that my saliva touched your precious, precious skin. Those other times were completely your fault though," she huffed. "Like when you just let me get slimed in the woods. And earlier." Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "Hey! You hit me!" Kagome's head fell onto Sesshoumaru's chest with a muffled thump. "Oh no," she muttered. "I'm in an abusive relationship."  
  
Sesshoumaru merely grunted at that observation. "I knocked you unconscious after you kicked and burned my precious, precious skin," he mimicked dryly. "You were obviously not in your right mind."  
  
"We've begun an unstoppable cycle of violence," Kagome continued, morose. "There aren't any crisis hotlines for me to call. There aren't any phones, period. And every time it happens, you'll just bring me a severed head, and I'll take you right back." She sighed mournfully. "It's sad."  
  
Sesshoumaru merely patted Kagome's bottom in a way that was meant to be reassuring, but made her want to laugh. He felt her smile against his aforementioned precious skin. "I'm totally beat," she murmured with a yawn, as she snuggled closer, eyes drifting shut. "Aya always wakes me up so early, and. . ."  
  
Just as quickly as it had appeared, he felt her smile fade. The fine-boned hand resting on his chest curled into a fist.  
  
"I. . . I can't believe I forgot," Kagome said to herself.  
  
Sesshoumaru's hand rose to rest on the back of her neck. "Brooding over the dead is a fruitless thing," he murmured as sympathetically as he could.  
  
"You say that as if there's a choice," Kagome mused quietly. "I just. . . I can't stand to think about what happened, but it would be even worse to just forget. I owe it to them, to remember."  
  
Sesshoumaru pressed his nose against the top of Kagome's head. "There is always a choice. Everything fades, over time."  
  
Shakily, Kagome exhaled and tried to relax. "Well, tell me about something then," she whispered.  
  
"About what?"  
  
"I don't know." She tucked her head under Sesshoumaru's chin and just listened to his breathing. The even sounds comforted her. "I don't know very much about you. Well, you like Tetsusaiga, you dislike Inuyasha. So just choose something I don't know about. Please?"  
  
Sesshoumaru allowed his eyes to drift closed again. "I detest that sword." He was a little surprised to hear himself say it, but once he had, he found that he didn't mind very much.  
  
Kagome peeked up. "Really? Well pardon me for jumping to conclusions," she commented archly. "It must have been your endless attempts to take it that threw me off."  
  
Sesshoumaru's hand tightened warningly on Kagome's hip. "You know little about the matter, and I do not feel inclined to explain at the moment."  
  
He felt her sigh. "Okay, a different subject then. Just. . . just tell me anything you want. Then, I'll tell you something."  
  
Sesshoumaru felt his lips curve slightly. "The trade is not to my benefit," he countered, looking up at the stars. "You offer more than enough information as it is."  
  
He waited for a reaction, and didn't have to wait long before Kagome pinched his waist and made a sound of disgust. "Gods," she mumbled. "It's like getting water from a stone." She paused, and Sesshoumaru could feel her thinking. "Okay, you were saying. . . about, you know. Dwelling on things." Her voice grew quieter. "What were you talking about? Because I just can't stop thinking about how unfair it is, that. . ."  
  
A warm drop of liquid fell on Sesshoumaru's shoulder, and he knew that this time, it wasn't drool.  
  
"I guess," Kagome said thickly, "it just seems like I should have been there. They didn't deserve that, and yet, I'm so happy that I'm alive. It seems. . . wrong of me."  
  
Sesshoumaru was silent for a while, and Kagome thought that he intended to ignore her. But it was enough, just to be held close, and hear his heartbeat beneath her cheek.  
  
His heart beat more slowly than a human's, but it sounded strong, Kagome thought as her eyes closed. A youkai heart, built to last centuries. . .  
  
"All things fade. Death is not reasonable, but few things are just," Sesshoumaru surprised her by saying, long after she had stopped waiting for a response. "Those who should have died often flourish. It is not for one to say. It is simply the way of things." His voice was quiet and even. "The weight of it becomes easier to bear."  
  
Unsure of how to respond, Kagome kissed his throat and simply asked, "Who? What happened?"  
  
Sesshoumaru stroked her hair. "The youkai who bore me," he said after a while. "She was killed by my father." Then, he seemed to catch himself. "She allowed him to kill her."  
  
"Oh," Kagome breathed. "But. . . why?" The question on her lips died when he shook his head slightly, obviously unwilling to say any more.  
  
"You said you would tell me something in return," he challenged. "How did you come to be in this era?"  
  
Taking a deep breath, Kagome thought about where to begin. "Well, you saw the shrine complex where I live. I've always lived there," she murmured, knowing he would have no trouble hearing her. "My grandpa was always talking about a legendary jewel, the Shikon no Tama, but he talked about a lot of stuff, and I never thought much about it." She exhaled and shook her head slightly. "Little did I know, Grandpa really knew his stuff. One day, before I went to school, I was looking for our cat, Buyo. . ."  
  
**********  
  
"After this, we have to go looking for Kagome."  
  
"I will be able to find her," Kikyou informed Inuyasha in a low voice as she placed a flower on one of the fresh burial mounds.  
  
Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango looked up from the rows of newly dug graves at the certainty in her voice. Dusting the soil off his palms, Inuyasha gave a brief nod. "Then we go tomorrow."  
  
"Why not now!" Shippou interjected, leaping onto Inuyasha's shoulder, only to be dislodged with a flick of the hanyou's wrist.  
  
"Keh! Easy for you to say! You don't even have to do anything," Inuyasha grumbled as Shippou rubbed his head. "You just sit on someone and watch the scenery go by." Inuyasha crossed his arms, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and frowned. "I'm only accepting input from those of us who have to expend energy."  
  
"Prrr," Kirara contributed. None of the humans could understand her, but the way she tucked her nose under her tail and went back to sleep spoke more loudly than words.  
  
Miroku wiped a hand over his haggard face. "I need to rest, too," he supplied.  
  
"I agree," Sango chimed in, as she sent a little smile in Miroku's direction. He'd been right earlier, she realized. They could hardly see straight, and would be in big trouble if they had to fight in this state.  
  
"So it's unanimous, except for Shippou," Inuyasha concluded with a righteous look in the pissed-off kit's direction.  
  
"I still think we should-"  
  
"Shut up, Shippou!" Inuyasha barked. "We're going to sleep early, recover a little, and set off early tomorrow. No more whining!"  
  
Miroku heaved a huge, relieved sigh. Usually, it was Inuyasha setting a relentless pace and harassing them into to overextending themselves. "Praise Buddha," the monk intoned, resting his wrapped palm lightly on the top of Shippou's head. "Some of us don't have youkai stamina, Shippou." Then, Miroku dropped the shovel he'd been using, and collapsed dramatically against Sango's shoulder with another, happier sigh. "Oh," he murmured smoothly. "All the strength seems to have left my body. . ."  
  
Sango's eyes widened as Miroku's hands began searching for purchase. He hadn't been up to his old tricks as much lately, and Sango realized that she had been a bit worried about him.  
  
Inexplicably relieved, Sango quickly sidestepped as his fingers neared her posterior. Having lost his support, Miroku fell to the ground in an undignified heap. Shippou snickered as Miroku just continued to lie there, flexing one hand as a stupid smile spread across his face.  
  
"Annngo," he murmured blissfully, rolling onto his back. Then, without further ado, he started to snore.  
  
Sango sighed, shaking her head ruefully as she looked down in disbelief at the Miroku-shaped pile. "That's just. . ."  
  
Inuyasha smirked. "That's just sad," he observed, plunking himself down. Shippou, suddenly more tired than he'd thought, rested his head on the hanyou's knee and closed his eyes. Inuyasha grumbled a bit, but didn't kick the little youkai away, which seemed to be progress.  
  
Watching the interplay, Kikyou felt her heart contract. Turning to place more flowers on the graves, she smiled.  
  
It looked like, after all this time, Inuyasha had finally found a place where he belonged. It didn't hurt as much as she'd thought it would to find that his place wasn't with her.  
  
Kikyou pressed her fingers gently into the newly turned earth, bestowing a silent benediction on those who lay there.  
  
She felt more comfortable among the dead than she did with Inuyasha and his friends. They had a shared history of pain and happiness, in which she had only figured as an antagonist.  
  
It would take time, but she would try to find her own place in this familiar, alien world. She would help them.  
  
She would try.  
  
**********  
  
"And that's when I first met Inuyasha." Kagome murmured, voice a little rough from speaking. "You know, he tried to kill me right off, too. It must be one of those weird family traits you two share."  
  
It was too dark for Kagome to see much, but she could practically feel Sesshoumaru's eyebrow rise the way it always did when he was deciding whether to be offended or not. "And precisely what other traits do you think we have in common?" he inquired, hackles obviously rising.  
  
"Well. . . "Kagome bit her lip thoughtfully. "You both have really cute ears."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Well, it's true." She thought about it a little more, and then added, "You also have this thing about swords."  
  
"Oh, really." Kagome smiled. It was really hard to take his murderous tone seriously, when his voice rumbled out of his chest and vibrated against her ear in an almost-ticklish way, Kagome thought.  
  
"As if you can deny it," she muttered, squeezing his shoulder.  
  
"You have a fondness for my idiot brother," Sesshoumaru observed, tensing slightly. He felt jealousy rising in his blood, despite his better instincts. It was ridiculous.  
  
Kagome blinked. "Hey, he's not an idiot."  
  
Sesshoumaru tensed even more at that.  
  
"He was really abrasive at first, but. . . I think he's probably my best friend, despite all the problems we've had. He looked out for me when he didn't have to, and I looked out for him. I guess I developed these feelings for him, but. . . I was sort of selfish about it. I was unrealistic, and too demanding. I wanted to be in love. And I wanted. . . I guess I wanted to prove I was just as good as she was, and he didn't want to give up on the possibility of a relationship. It was just a bad scene, for both of us."  
  
"What do you mean?" Sesshoumaru inquired.  
  
Kagome's eyes closed. "I always got so angry. He'd compare me to Kikyou all the time."  
  
Sesshoumaru paused. "The one that sealed him?"  
  
"Yeah," Kagome grumbled. "Ugh. I look like her, and they say I'm her reincarnation, which made me feel really inadequate - like I was some Gucci knockoff or something. She always seemed so competent, you know? Especially when she was trying to kill us, or otherwise torment us. And there I was: the bumbling weirdo from the future."  
  
Smiling a little, Sesshoumaru squeezed Kagome tighter and kissed her temple. "You are still strange, but less bumbling now."  
  
"Gee, that's really sweet of you to say," Kagome replied, only slightly sarcastic. She nuzzled his collarbone in silent thanks. "You always know how to make me feel better," she mused. "It's odd isn't it? I feel so comfortable with you."  
  
At that, Sesshoumaru felt reassured, because he knew it was true. Whatever they had, it felt true and real.  
  
Before he had opportunity to think about it any more, she grew serious again, and exhaled. "I just wanted him to forget about her and see me. I didn't really think. I guess now I understand him a bit better. He couldn't let go of what happened between them." Kagome shifted uncomfortably. "For Inuyasha, it wasn't a tragic story that happened fifty years in the past. Losing people you love. . . it's still a raw wound for him. One day, Kikyou was trying to kill him, and the next, there I was." Kagome sighed again and wrapped a lock of Sesshoumaru's hair around her index finger. "No wonder he has issues," she observed sympathetically.  
  
At that, Sesshoumaru scoffed slightly. "You are too generous," he said. "Inuyasha has always had many. . . issues, as you say."  
  
"He's a good person," Kagome countered. "Under all the yelling and aggression, he's very sweet. Just. . . insecure, I think."  
  
Sesshoumaru shrugged. "He has always been a brat with little sense, and no sense of responsibility."  
  
Kagome hugged Sesshoumaru. "You talk like an old man." Then, her eyes widened, and Sesshoumaru could practically hear wheels turning in her mind. "You are old. I mean, really, really old."  
  
Sesshoumaru made a funny sound in his throat. "I am not an old man," he argued. "In youkai terms, I have only recently reached adulthood," he informed her in a haughty voice.  
  
At the ramifications of that statement, Kagome tilted her head slightly. "You know. . . that explains a few things."  
  
"Meaning?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," Kagome replied innocently.  
  
Sesshoumaru frowned. "It certainly could explain why I am lying in a field with an overly loquacious, disrespectful human girl," he grunted. "Obviously, this is something I will look back on and regret in my old age."  
  
Kagome chose to ignore that. "Says the guy who can't make pancakes," she parried in an arch tone. "Don't talk to me about regrets, mister 'heads make great gifts.'" Then, a thought struck her. "Hey. Speaking of adolescence, did you ever have an awkward stage? I've been wondering about that."  
  
Sesshoumaru peered down at the top of Kagome's head in exasperation. "No."  
  
"Would you tell me if you did?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh," Kagome said, disappointed at Sesshoumaru's curt replies. "I was wondering if there was anything like, you know, youkai acne."  
  
Sesshoumaru's eyebrow twitched. "What is acne?"  
  
"I hate the fact that you never had to know," Kagome said in pained tones. "God. My forehead at the age of thirteen. . . such a disaster. . ."  
  
"Cease your yammering, woman."  
  
"Were you ever really, really skinny and tall?" she persisted.  
  
"No."  
  
Kagome paused, and Sesshoumaru hoped that she had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, she hadn't.  
  
"If I think about it really hard, I can see it," she continued sleepily after a few sweet moments of silence. "You, all pointy-elbowed and gangly, with a strangely large Adam's apple. . ."  
  
"Quiet."  
  
Lost in speculation, Kagome completely disregarded Sesshoumaru's dangerous tone. She sighed. "You must have been so cu-"  
  
Then, Kagome was abruptly silenced, because Sesshoumaru had rolled her onto her back, bent on kissing the life out of her. She became suddenly and acutely aware of the fact that they were both still very naked, and that Sesshoumaru was really, really sexy.  
  
When he pulled back for air, Kagome could have sworn that a lone canary was circling her head and chirping.  
  
Sesshoumaru waited patiently for Kagome to recover from her shell-shocked state. It took a few moments before her eyes focused once more. She blinked, trying to clear her head. After a protracted period of lying there in a stunned, silent state, she seemed to recover.  
  
"What the hell was that?" she demanded in confusion. She felt tingly all over, she mused. "Did you knock me out again?"  
  
Though it was pitch-black, Kagome could tell that Sesshoumaru was wearing a variation of his amused, 'are you stupid' face.  
  
It made her mad. Since he was so conveniently located, Kagome decided that it was payback time.  
  
With the elevated ideals of equal exchange in mind, Kagome yanked Sesshoumaru's mouth back to hers, and did an outstanding job of returning his opening salvo. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and groaned.  
  
Of course, the sneaky actions of her hand beneath the blanket also may have had something to do with that. When Kagome pulled back, gasping for air, it seemed like Sesshoumaru was seeing the same chirping bird that had been bugging her such a short time before.  
  
"Take that," she breathed triumphantly as she stroked his chest.  
  
Then, Kagome's hands wandered a little lower, and Sesshoumaru - not to be outdone - found his lips wandering down her neck as he pressed closer. If the little sounds escaping Kagome's mouth were any indication, she was finally up to continuing their earlier activities, Sesshoumaru noted with intense interest.  
  
She shifted beneath him and settled her hands on his hips, seeking closer contact.  
  
"Hurry up," she panted impatiently.  
  
He was happy to oblige her.  
  
**********  
  
Quite a while later, after some rather strenuous activity, Kagome was struggling to breathe properly.  
  
He was damned good at that, she thought feebly, sinking her nails into his warm, sweaty skin as another set of shocks rocked her helpless body. Sesshoumaru kissed her ear, pressed deeper, and collapsed on top of her with a muffled 'mrrm' sound.  
  
It was another few minutes before Kagome recovered enough of her mental faculties to detach her mouth from his shoulder, and remove his hair from her face.  
  
Then, she had to try very hard not to think about how much practice at this he'd had. Because he had definitely acquired certain impressive. . . aptitudes, and Kagome was starting to suspect that she must seem disappointingly amateurish.  
  
"Sesshoumaru?" she whispered. She was briefly distracted from her growing insecurity by the adorable way his ear stirred slightly against her cheek.  
  
"Sesshoumaru?" she repeated, slightly thrown by the lack of response. She tipped her head to the side so she could look at him, and saw something that was wildly reassuring. This time, she thought smugly, it had been Sesshoumaru's turn to pass out. Kagome wouldn't have minded at all if he weren't so heavy.  
  
She brushed the bangs from his sleeping face with gentle fingers.  
  
"As I was saying before," she whispered, "you must have been so cute." As if in confirmation, his ear twitched again. Then, with a sigh, she kissed his cheek, and began the tricky process of worming her way out from under him.  
  
Tomorrow, she'd begin her search for her friends, Kagome thought drowsily. She wrapped her arm around Sesshoumaru's waist. Snuggling close against his side, she dragged the blankets back over them, and let his heat warm her all the way through.  
  
Maybe next time, she could try and get him to pass out drooling, Kagome thought to herself. Then, she smiled a tired, one-hundred-percent-evil smile, and followed Sesshoumaru into slumber.  
  
**********  
  
When they woke up, Kikyou was nowhere to be found.  
  
Shippou, finding himself too excited to sleep, had been the first to rise. Consequently, he was the first to discover the miko's absence.  
  
Not one to be hasty, he exited the hut and searched the vicinity for about two seconds, before running back inside. His awful discovery forced Shippou to discard his considerate plan to wait until sunrise before rousing the others.  
  
"KYAAAAAA!" The ear-splitting cry caused Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku to leap to attention.  
  
More accurately, Inuyasha and Sango sprang to their feet in readiness for battle. Miroku, on the other hand, merely rolled over and continued to sleep - but not before grunting, "Go back to bed. Its bite is not lethal. We will cure you in the morning."  
  
"She's gone!" Shippou exclaimed as he lurched to a halt in the doorway. He glared briefly in Miroku's direction, but then decided that the big, watery eyes would be more effective. "She's gooone!" he wailed. "We need her to find Kagomeeee!"  
  
Inuyasha's eyes darted around the hut they had chosen to sleep in, and his gaze settled on the empty space on the floor where Kikyou had retired for the night. "Damn it," he muttered, coming to the worst of all possible conclusions. He turned to Shippou, suddenly all business. "When did you notice that she was missing?"  
  
"Just now!" Shippou reported, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding. He began to pace back and forth. "I knew we should have tied her up," he announced grimly. "We should also have had someone keep watch over her. And instead of feeding her, we could have made her find me candy, and. . ."  
  
"Ahem." The feminine voice from the door made Shippou turn and start wailing anew, this time in relief.  
  
The others were also greatly relieved at her appearance - largely because they hadn't realized how disturbed Shippou truly was. They were happy that Kikyou's timely return had prevented any more insight into his bizarre internal life.  
  
The kit in question launched himself at Kikyou on sight, wrapped his arms around her neck, and announced, "I knew you wouldn't leave us!"  
  
When Kikyou replied, her voice was calm, albeit muffled by Shippou's tail. "You wanted to tie me up and guard me."  
  
"For your protection," he qualified meekly.  
  
"Starving me, and making me find you candy would be for my protection?" Kikyou was twitching, Shippou noted, and that was not a good sign. His eyes rounded. Perhaps the conclusions he had drawn had been a teeny, tiny bit precipitous. . .  
  
"Ummm. . . well, you haven't been eating for a long time, so it might make you sick, you know. And candy is good," Shippou defended. "You would like it." His eyes started to shine as he thought more about the subject. "There are these great things, called lollipops," he explained in a dreamy tone, "and some of them turn by themselves, so you don't even have to lick them. . ."  
  
Kikyou twitched again, and then shocked everyone when she snickered. Soon, she degenerated into loud guffaws. Shippou immediately released her. He landed on the ground a few feet away, looking slightly alarmed.  
  
"Well, where'd you go?" Inuyasha demanded in a surly tone, when it became evident that Kikyou wasn't going to be able to calm down anytime soon. He peered outside. The sun still slept beneath the horizon.  
  
"Sorry," she gasped. "Went out. . . meditate. . . oh gods," she whimpered, pressing a hand to her stomach.  
  
Sango exhaled, finally relaxing her guard, and stopped to look down at Miroku. After all the excitement, he was still just lying there like a log, apparently dead to the world. "So, were you able to decide which direction we should move in?" she asked carefully. She'd been so tired, but being jolted from sleep in such an abrupt fashion had a way of waking a person up. Except, in Miroku's case, Sango grumbled internally.  
  
Finally, Kikyou's attack of mirth died down. "Well," she sighed, hand still pressed to her stomach. "I know which direction we should take. She has gone back to see Kaede."  
  
Shippou paused at that bit of information. "But. . . that's so far!" he exploded, clearly miffed that it would take so long to reach Kagome.  
  
Inuyasha nodded, and then prodded Miroku with one bare foot. "Oy. Miroku."  
  
The monk displayed no sign of life.  
  
"Keh! Miroku!" Inuyasha repeated, giving him another, more sadistic poke. "Get up!"  
  
Finally, Inuyasha thought as Miroku opened his eyes a crack.  
  
"Go away. It is still dark." With that, Miroku simply closed his eyes again.  
  
"We're all up now, lazy-ass!" Inuyasha argued. "If we leave right awa-"  
  
Inuyasha was then suddenly and literally struck silent. He rubbed the red mark that Miroku's staff left on his face, and poked at his smarting nose experimentally, wincing. Why on earth did Miroku sleep with that staff anyway, Inuyasha wondered grumpily.  
  
Miroku, having rolled over slightly, tucked said staff back beneath his arm with a jingling noise. "If you don't give me one more hour, I will exorcise you. Go play outside or something," he suggested, somehow managing to sound charming even in his half-conscious, apparently murderous state.  
  
"But-" Inuyasha sputtered. Then, he fell silent, having heard an odd rustling sound. Golden eyes widened as Miroku's hand emerged from his sleeve, holding a sealing ofuda between two fingers.  
  
"Don't make me use this," he murmured, eyes still closed. "Go. Enjoy the utter absence of daylight." With that pronouncement, Miroku curled back up into the insensate lump he had been before, and immediately started to emit some rather theatrical snoring sounds.  
  
"Whoa," Shippou breathed into the surprised silence that followed. "Miroku's scary!"  
  
Sango merely shook her head and grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve, tugging the gaping hanyou towards the door. Finally recovering his wits, Inuyasha scowled, and then followed the others outside. They merely looked at one another, at a complete loss.  
  
"So. . ." Kikyou began hesitantly. "Who wants breakfast?"  
  
**********  
  
"Ow," Kagome grunted as she dealt a snap-kick to the shard-carrying bear youkai they had finally caught up with. The impact of the blow bounced right off its massive form, and Kagome couldn't help but think that that particular move had hurt herself more than it had hurt her opponent.  
  
Sesshoumaru watched from a short distance away, looking completely disinterested in the proceedings.  
  
Kagome scowled. He had caused the soreness in the first place. It seemed only fair that he should have to help her. Kagome seethed, caught up in the injustice of it all. It was also completely unfair, she growled inwardly. Her hair, still damp from their morning bath in the icy river-water, kept smacking her in the face when she pivoted. Sesshoumaru's was already dry. Probably because of some freakish hair-drying youkai powers, she thought darkly.  
  
The frustration coursing through her found an outlet in the swipe she aimed towards the youkai's knee. Fighting the really huge ones really sucked, Kagome noted absently. Then, her thoughts returned to the topic of her irksome companion.  
  
It sure was funny how much nicer he'd seemed when they were both naked, she thought to herself grumpily. How had she forgotten how insufferable he was?  
  
Kagome paused briefly in her assault, brooding further on her own stupidity. When she snapped back to attention, she only barely managed to avoid the large, lethal claws whistling through the air towards her.  
  
"Dammit!" she cursed under her breath as she snatched up her fallen staff and retreated out of the youkai's reach. She narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to focus and search for an opening.  
  
It was huge, but not too bright, she thought to herself as it simply stood there, slobbering. She wondered, briefly, why the Shikon shards made some youkai foam at the mouth like that. Perhaps it was some kind of side effect. . .  
  
"This is pitiful," Sesshoumaru observed with his characteristic blandness. "What are you doing?"  
  
At that, Kagome wished for the umpteenth time that she hadn't run out of arrows. "You're not helping, you know!" she called in response, before launching herself towards the youkai in another failed attack.  
  
She couldn't reach the shard in its neck, and she'd run out of arrows. The outlook was not good, especially since Sesshoumaru was being such a paragon of helpfulness. That meant she'd have to chop it down first, Kagome thought with a slight shudder of disgust.  
  
The problem with that plan was that, every time she tried to get close enough to do some damage, those damned claws came flying at her head. She just couldn't reach inside its guard with the way she was currently going.  
  
"I really, really wish I had more arrows," Kagome muttered under her breath as the creature batted her staff away with a howl. She was forced, once again, to tuck and roll away. "Ow," she added in a pained tone as the impact sent a shock through her sore muscles.  
  
Arrows, she thought once more. If only she had. . . Kagome blinked suddenly, looking at the rocky ground in front of her.  
  
Snatching up a fist-sized rock, Kagome sprang to her feet from her crouched position. She silently thanked Souta for his baseball obsession, as well as his puppy-eyed insistence that she play catch with him.  
  
Kagome planted her feet, wound up, thought pure thoughts, and then let it fly with everything she had.  
  
"Graaaagh!" the youkai roared as her glowing projectile burned its way through its enormous, meaty chest.  
  
"Oh, yeah," Kagome congratulated herself as she launched herself forward to attack before it could recover. With an efficient swipe of her staff, she sliced straight through the beast's thick neck as it crashed to the ground. "Striiiiike!" she crowed, catching the glimmering shard in her palm.  
  
She turned to Sesshoumaru to show off her prize, but was brought up short when she saw him sigh and roll his eyes at her outburst. "That took far too long," he commented.  
  
"What?" Kagome sputtered as he walked towards her. "I can't believe you! You're no help at all! I can't move properly because of you, and all you did was stand there shaking your head the whole time! It's completely mmrfurm-"  
  
Kagome tried not to respond to that kiss. She really did. He was such an ass, but. . .  
  
"You did well," Sesshoumaru replied after he set her back on her feet. He turned and continued in the direction they had chosen.  
  
Kagome followed. "You can't just do that every time you want me to be quiet," she informed him through clenched teeth. "You just stood there looking bored while I kept bouncing off a youkai fifty times my size!"  
  
Sesshoumaru turned back to face her, crossing his arms. "I think it is best if I do not help you," he said firmly. "You will, after all, be traveling with a crew of incompetents. How else will you learn?" Having dispensed his nugget of wisdom, Sesshoumaru turned and started walking again.  
  
"Your teaching methods suck," Kagome replied, hurt colouring her voice. "You're not my mentor, thank you very much." Kagome swallowed, remembering who had been, and then forcibly quelled the ache in her ribs. "And we're not incompetent." She looked down at her feet and tucked her staff between her back and the pack she carried. She heard Sesshoumaru sigh, and then he tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him.  
  
"I would not have let anything happen to you," he said in a tone one might use when trying to explain something to a three-year-old.  
  
"Whatever," she replied quietly, before turning away and closing her eyes. When she looked back at Sesshoumaru, he was surprised by the knowledge in them.  
  
"You're not going to stay with us, are you?" she asked, though she obviously already knew the answer.  
  
"No," he replied quietly. "You should join them. I will not travel with you."  
  
Kagome looked up and met his eyes, obviously angry. "I. . . well, I guess I didn't think you would, but. . . who are you to tell me what I should do? And. . . and what's so wrong with coming with us?" She bit her lip. "Oh. I forgot that we're a 'crew of incompetents." she said, as she looked down at her feet.  
  
Every line of her body spoke of the pain of rejection, and Sesshoumaru found that he could not bear to see her that way.  
  
"It may be to our advantage later on if Naraku remains unaware of our association," Sesshoumaru informed her, tipping her chin up. "Look at me," he said quietly, as Kagome stubbornly kept her eyes turned away.  
  
"You told me you didn't want to be used," Kagome said in a strange, quiet voice. "Well, you know what? I don't like it much, either."  
  
At that, Sesshoumaru frowned and took hold of Kagome's chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You misunderstand me," he explained. "I will not travel with you. I did not say I would not help you."  
  
Kagome's eyes widened, and she suddenly shoved away from Sesshoumaru's hold. "You think that's what I'm mad about?" she exclaimed in frustration, "I couldn't care less whether you're going to help me or not! I didn't sleep with you because I wanted your help, you moron! I. . . I care about you, though I have no idea why! You're the most insensitive. . ."  
  
Feeling a surge of warmth at Kagome's angry confession, Sesshoumaru grabbed her around the waist and pressed his face against her damp, sweet-smelling hair.  
  
"I'm trying to yell at you! You're not allowed to hug me in these situations!" she went on without missing a beat.  
  
Sesshoumaru smiled a little at that, and ignored the fact that Kagome was once again trying to escape his embrace. He noticed that her struggle lacked enthusiasm, despite her protestations.  
  
"I will come to see you often," he said decisively. "I think it is best, however, to keep my loyalties uncertain." He paused, and squarely met Kagome's stare as she pulled away slightly. "Naraku has come to me in the past to suggest an alliance. It seems unlikely that he should do so again, but it is possible that he will make a mistake."  
  
Kagome still looked unhappy, but seemed to see his point. "Well, fine," she replied glumly. "But. . ." she trailed off, looking at her hands.  
  
"But what?" Sesshoumaru was a little surprised when Kagome stepped forward again, eyes filled with something he'd never seen before.  
  
Sighing, Kagome snuggled a little closer, obviously avoiding whatever issue was on her mind. Her eyes widened when she heard a strange crinkling sound coming from his arm. "Hey, what's that?" she asked, tipping her head back in curiosity.  
  
"Nothing," Sesshoumaru replied curtly.  
  
Refusing to accept his answer, Kagome grabbed onto Sesshoumaru's arm, and slipped a hand into the folds of his sleeve. Her fingers closed around the very familiar object secreted there. Shocked, Kagome stood immobilized, and blinked down at the cellophane-wrapped candy.  
  
"You. . . you keep this with you?" Kagome murmured, looking at the lollipop she'd given Sesshoumaru months ago. She turned to him, watching him with a strange intensity. "They get gummy and weird after a while, you know," she informed him in a shaky voice. "You should have eaten it before."  
  
Sesshoumaru shrugged under her gaze. At the lack of response, Kagome tucked the lollipop back into his sleeve. Then, she pushed herself up to kiss him. When she pulled away, Sesshoumaru wondered why she was smiling at him so brilliantly.  
  
"Okay," she acquiesced. "But you had better visit me a lot, or I'll be mad," she warned.  
  
At that, Sesshoumaru looked heavenward, perplexed at yet another example of Kagome's bizarre mood-swings.  
  
"All right," she said cheerfully, placing her hands on her hips and then looking off into the distance. "I sense a bunch of shards that way. It has to be them." Her brows furrowed. "There's another shard on the way, so I might as well get it now."  
  
**********  
  
"I'm tired," Shippou whispered to himself as he trotted along slightly behind the group. He'd been hanging on to Sango earlier, but then Miroku had given a look that made it very clear a couple of minutes ago that the two were to be left alone. The privacy hadn't done the monk much good, Shippou noted. Sango seemed tired as well, and not particularly in the mood for conversation.  
  
Miroku could be surprisingly intimidating, though.  
  
Shippou knew it wouldn't be good to let his hanyou companion hear him complaining of exhaustion. Inuyasha would probably just say something mean about how Shippou should have let them all sleep longer, or something dumb like that.  
  
Shippou looked off towards where Miroku was plodding along. The monk looked sort of grumpy and dangerous still, though hours had passed since Shippou's pre-dawn wake-up call. The small youkai was suddenly even happier that he hadn't voiced his fatigue.  
  
It was mid-morning, and they had all been following Kikyou's direction in their quest to find Kagome. The miko walked with them, but it was quite plain that she wasn't part of their group. The atmosphere was rather tense, since none of them were quite sure how far they could trust her. Oddly enough, Inuyasha seemed the most inclined to just ignore her, only speaking to her when he was asking where they should be going, and how far away Kagome was.  
  
Kikyou did seem a lot different from the other times Shippou had seen her. Unfortunately, during the long days of hunting shards, it had been made plain to all of them that 'different' wasn't always a good thing.  
  
In fact, 'different' often tended to bite one in the ass, Shippou thought glumly.  
  
At that moment, Kirara woke up and transformed, in order to give the sleepy Sango a break. At the fire-cat's nod towards him, Shippou heaved a sigh of relief. He leapt on to hitch a ride, glad that someone at least hadn't forgotten that his legs were much shorter than everyone else's.  
  
Ahead of them, Kikyou paused and looked from side to side.  
  
"What's going on?" Inuyasha demanded. "Why are we stopping?" Then, he sniffed, tipped his head back, and listened intently to noises no one else could hear. "Oh, damn it," he groused. He turned to the rest of the group. "There are some really smelly bandits off that way. I smell smoke. They're probably in some village, stealing and pillaging as usual."  
  
At that, Miroku's mood seemed to lighten. "Ooooh!" he exclaimed.  
  
Sango glared at him, shifting Hiraikotsu meaningfully on her shoulder, which caused some rather hurried backpedaling on Miroku's part.  
  
"Not that I want to rescue helpless village girls and gain their lifelong gratitude and/or monetary compensation, or anything," he amended quickly. Sango rolled her eyes, but the look of glowing chivalry on his face persisted, unabated.  
  
"Shit," Inuyasha groaned, gesturing towards Miroku impatiently. "Between the monk and the kit, I feel like we're collecting women instead of shards."  
  
Shippou's eyes bugged out. "Whaaat?!" he protested. "What do I have to do with anything?"  
  
"Usually nothing," Inuyasha retorted with a condescending look. "But every time we meet a girl that's less than 3 times your height, you follow her around and then moon about her for a month."  
  
"Whaaat?!" Shippou repeated. "That's. . ." he trailed off, frowning, much to Kikyou and Sango's amusement. "That's only for the pretty ones," Shippou concluded finally, crossing his little arms over his chest and nodding.  
  
"Exactly!" Miroku chimed in with a smile of camaraderie. "That's-" catching another of Sango's looks, he quickly revised the statement he was about to make, and pasted a solemn look on his face. "That's so shallow, Shippou."  
  
"Traitor," Shippou replied, stung. "Just see if I give you any more advice about that slapping problem you have."  
  
At that, Inuyasha snickered, and Miroku looked mildly chastened.  
  
Sango sighed heavily at the apparently short attention spans of the men in the group. "I think you have lost sight of the issue at hand," she prompted impatiently.  
  
Kikyou nodded. "Your friend is close," she remarked, "and she actually seems to be coming this way. It won't hurt to take care of the trouble."  
  
With surprisingly little protest, Inuyasha followed the two women as they headed towards the disturbance. Both Kikyou and Sango, noticing his lack of comment, looked back at him in surprise.  
  
"What?" he asked, piqued at their scrutiny.  
  
Sango shrugged, before continuing onward. "Usually, you argue a bit more about going to save humans," she said. "Especially when there aren't any shards involved."  
  
Inuyasha snorted in response. "Keh! I'm really in the mood to pound some heads right now," he explained with a backward look at Miroku and Shippou, who were apparently bickering as they trailed behind. "Let's go."  
  
**********  
  
"I am so gonna kick your ass," Kagome muttered at the shard-carrying frog youkai who'd just spit at her foot. She looked down, regarding her rapidly dissolving shoelace with sad eyes. "Damn it, how am I going to tie that now?"  
  
Both of the demons who were privy to her complaint seemed unsympathetic to her future plight. Sesshoumaru looked like he was mentally balancing his checkbook. Contestant number two, who was responsible for her shoelace problem in the first place, stood in front of her unrepentantly.  
  
Kagome glared, but it didn't even seem to notice. It cracked its jaw open, letting a gooey string of spittle drop slowly to the ground.  
  
Great, Kagome thought as she adjusted her grip on her weapon. Another mouth- foamer was just what her day had been missing.  
  
Quickly, she stepped out of range and waited for the youkai to attack again. They were on the rocky bank of a river, and the sound of the rushing water was loud in her ears. She hadn't had to fight on this sort of terrain before, and wasn't sure how well she'd be able to move on it.  
  
The youkai she was up against looked like an amphibious type, Kagome thought with a shudder. Its green, wrinkly skin reminded her a bit of Jaken, but this one was disgustingly moist-looking. Its large, frog-like body was bloated with the shard's power. All in all, Kagome concluded, Jaken could totally win the Miss Froggie Youkai beauty pageant. All the other toad-like creatures she had come across were completely cast in the shade by Jaken's relative beauty.  
  
Even worse, the youkai that faced her started to waddle to the side, looking like it was getting ready to jump. To avoid being hit by its considerable mass, Kagome pivoted, deflecting its charge with a glancing blow from her staff.  
  
"Brragghbbaght," the youkai croaked as it landed with an earth-shaking thud. A large, raw-looking welt was etched across its belly as a result of Kagome's blow.  
  
Kagome braced herself for another charge as the creature's powerful legs tensed in preparation for another spring. Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for the long, muscular tongue that shot out of the creature's mouth like a telescopic baton.  
  
"Aaagh!" Kagome cried. She leapt backwards and to the side, eyes fixed on the greenish-black, snakelike appendage that was aimed at her throat. Having failed to remember the hazards of the terrain, Kagome landed on the slippery slope of a boulder and lost her footing. She was forced to drop her staff in order to catch herself from her fall.  
  
With a slick, grating noise, the youkai drew its tongue back into its mouth, having gained the advantage due to Kagome's misstep. Struggling to right herself, she scrambled to her feet, hoping to leap away in time, but her bad landing had wrenched her ankle, and she found herself staring in horror as the creature's tongue shot out again, this time at her abdomen. It was too fast, she thought in horror. She wouldn't be able to erect a barrier in time. . .  
  
Just as Kagome expected to feel the pain of a puncture wound, something fuzzy wrapped around her and jerked her out of harm's way. At the same time, a bright lash cracked in front of the youkai, driving it back.  
  
"Fanks." Kagome's voice emerged, muffled by the cocoon of fur that enveloped her. "Just in the nick of time."  
  
"Hurry and kill it so we can move on," Sesshoumaru commanded, smirking.  
  
Kagome wormed one arm free of the pelt, and then shoved the part covering her face up over her forehead. Then she smiled, having become inured to his condescending manner. It usually seemed aimed to get a rise out of her anyway, she thought.  
  
"I will, when you let me out," she replied, wiggling slightly. "This is sort of hampering my movement, you know."  
  
With a flick of the wrist, Sesshoumaru released Kagome, and draped the pelt over his shoulder once more.  
  
"How do you do that?" Kagome murmured in awe.  
  
Sesshoumaru pointed over her shoulder at the youkai she'd been fighting. It had apparently been stunned into immobility by Sesshoumaru's sudden attack. "Weren't you in the middle of something," the pale-haired youkai prompted in a dry voice.  
  
"Oh, right." Kagome turned back and saw that the frog-youkai was drooling once more. This time, it wore an incongruously thoughtful expression on its wide, pock-marked face.  
  
Kagome assumed a fighting stance, and her opponent seemed to come to a decision. It gathered itself up and then made a huge leap, quickly vanishing out of sight.  
  
It took a few moments for Kagome to recover from her surprise. Once she had, she scrambled up over the rocks, and reacquired her staff from where it had fallen. "Damn," she murmured. "I guess that foaming mouth thing doesn't necessarily mean that a youkai's completely stupid." With that, she ran back to Sesshoumaru's side, and grabbed his arm.  
  
"That way," she directed him, pointing to the woods beyond the river. "Let's go!"  
  
The look that Sesshoumaru sent her was filled with disbelief. "In case you did not notice, I am not a beast of burden," he observed with a smidgen of sarcasm. "Since when did I become your transportation?"  
  
Kagome grinned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Um. . . since I lost my bike?" she supplied helpfully. "Anyway," she added, "do you really want to wait around while I try to find a narrow place to cross the river? Because I'm going to walk really, really, really slowly. . ."  
  
Sesshoumaru looked down, and noticed with mild disgust that Kagome was batting her eyelashes at him with a pleading look on her face. She was completely ridiculous, he thought to himself with a sigh. "Stop that."  
  
"Please?" She wasn't going to stop it until he capitulated, he realized in consternation; humans truly could devise horrible, horrible punishments. However, he did like hearing her say please. And he liked it far more in other contexts as well. . .  
  
"You have to stop doing. . . whatever that is, first," he said in a tone that brooked no argument.  
  
"Okay," Kagome said, promptly ending Sesshoumaru's torture. She looked off into the woods. "We're really close now," she observed more seriously. "They aren't far away. But first, let's find that froggy thing."  
  
**********  
  
"Ugh, they were too easy. And why do bandits always stink so bad?" Inuyasha complained. "I can't smell anything now. Keh!"  
  
Kikyou smiled slightly. Obviously, the thieves had not given Inuyasha a satisfactory fight. Once he'd realized that all the bandits were either incapacitated or had run away, the expression of disappointment on his face had been almost comical.  
  
Kikyou shook her head and realized once again how much she had missed Inuyasha and his curmudgeonly ways. It was too bad that he didn't seem to want to talk to her very much. In fact, Kikyou thought, since their conversation after he had demanded that she explain what was going on, he had seemed bent on avoiding her.  
  
None of the group really seemed comfortable with her presence, and she understood why. She contented herself with her enjoyment of the way they all interacted with one another. While she did wish she could join in, she simply did not know how.  
  
After all, they were all friends with her reincarnation. Kagome seemed very different from Kikyou, though. The girl was more personable, and more sure of herself in social situations. Sometimes, Kikyou couldn't help but feel like she had been replaced by a better, brighter version of herself.  
  
Kikyou had missed Inuyasha, but he was unsure of how to treat her, given her behavior after Urasue had resurrected her. She also suspected that he wasn't sure how to classify their relationship, since their brief romantic entanglement before her death had ended in such spectacular failure.  
  
But. . . he had been her best friend. Kikyou would give him some time, as she needed it as well. Eventually, though, she knew that they would have to broach the subject.  
  
Closing her eyes, Kikyou tried to get a sense of where Kagome was. Her eyes blinked open in shock at what she found.  
  
A shard-carrier was approaching at a great speed, and another sped behind it. When Kikyou tried to pinpoint Kagome's location, she opened her mouth to call a warning to her companions. However, before she could make a sound, all hell broke loose.  
  
Some enormous, green youkai landed in the clearing before them with an earth-shaking crash. Everyone in their group started coughing suddenly. A cloud of dry soil flew into the air upon the impact, obscuring whatever was going on in a disordered haze.  
  
Inuyasha's nose twitched helplessly as he tried to find out what was going on, but the combination of the particles in the air and the lingering stench of the thieves from before confused him. He could, however, hear the sounds of combat very clearly. Some poor fool had taken on that huge youkai, and the fight was close - too close for comfort.  
  
"Shit! Get back into the woods, everyone!" he yelled, as he leapt high into the air and perched in a tree, trying to get a better idea of what was happening. As the dust thinned, Inuyasha became aware of a strange, violet glow lighting the air around some quick-moving, shadowy figure. A shadowy figure that suddenly stilled, he noticed with interest.  
  
"Inuyasha?" a familiar female voice asked hopefully from inside the miniature dust storm.  
  
The hanyou's ears twitched, and his eyes widened into circles.  
  
It was. . . it couldn't be. . .  
  
"Oooof! Gods, that hurt," the voice exclaimed, sounding winded and irritated. "That does it! You're going down, froggy-boy!" Another set of blows seemed to follow the peculiar battle-cry.  
  
There was no mistaking it, Inuyasha thought incredulously. "Kagome!" he shouted. He made a move to leap back down to assist her, but a strong hand clamped down on his shoulder to restrain him.  
  
"Do not interfere," Sesshoumaru commanded coolly from beside him. "She is easily distracted." Too stunned to do anything else, Inuyasha stared at his half-brother dumbly as Sesshoumaru turned towards the glowing nebula and addressed it. "Focus on what you are doing, wench!"  
  
Inuyasha heard a disgusted snort and some unintelligible muttering, and then the fighting seemed to become even more violent. The hanyou stared in disbelief at what he could see of the battle. It was impossible, he thought to himself as his irises darted to follow the movement in the cloud. It was impossible that that was Kagome. Whoever was in there was moving way faster than any human he'd ever seen.  
  
"Gyaaah!" the Kagome-like voice yelled. The cry was accompanied by a bright blaze of light, and some rather sickening squishing noises. "Got it!"  
  
"Now you may bother her, halfwit," Sesshoumaru informed Inuyasha blandly before stepping off the limb and materializing in the dust-cloud.  
  
"That was better," Inuyasha overheard Sesshoumaru say through the haze. "You did not take so unbearably long this time."  
  
"You make me so mad," Inuyasha heard Kagome growl. Then, the Kagome-shaped figure sneezed, and started to walk out of the mist, waving a hand in front of her face. "I missed you guys!" she called out. "Where are you? Is everyone. . . is everyone okay?"  
  
One by one, all the members of Inuyasha's company emerged from the surrounding trees, staring wide-eyed at both Kagome, and at the rather gory mess she had left of the frog-youkai.  
  
"Kagomeeeeee! We thought you might be deaaaaad!" Kagome looked down to see Shippou standing stock-still a small distance away, with tears streaming down his face. She ran over to him, and snatched him up into a fierce hug, also crying. "I'm fine, Shippou," she murmured. "Don't worry, I'm back now."  
  
"You are a little stronger than you were when we last saw you, Kagome," Miroku piped up as he approached.  
  
Sango, recovering from her shock, ran up to her friend and smiled widely, eyes shining with tears. "I'm so glad that you are all right," she professed, hugging Kagome warmly. "We were so worried. . . we went to find you, when we saw the swarm. . ." The taijiya noticed the way Kagome trembled when she mentioned it, and guessed that Kagome knew what had happened to the people she had lived with. Kagome sniffled down at Kirara, who pressed her face against her hand, purring in welcome.  
  
When Sango pulled back, Kagome was returning her look of concern. "I. . . are you okay?" she asked. "I'm sorry, about what happened to Kohaku. You must be so-"  
  
Sango's smile was strained. "It is hard," she admitted with difficulty, "but I have been coping. It is easier than. . . than always hoping, like before."  
  
Miroku rested his hand on Sango's back, and then turned to Kagome with a relieved smile. "Do I not receive a hug like everyone else?" he inquired innocently.  
  
Kagome embraced him as well, but not before giving him a warning look. "How's the hand?" she asked.  
  
"Roaming, as always," he replied with a wicked smile, prompting Kagome to step back before he could match his actions to his words.  
  
She had to laugh a bit at that, and then saw Inuyasha lingering some distance away, trying not to look at her.  
  
"Inuyasha!" she called. He approached, looking wary, and not a little guilty.  
  
"Msor," Kagome heard him mutter under his breath. Her forehead wrinkled as she tried to decipher his statement.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm sorry," he hissed, hoping the others couldn't hear. "I'm sorry, about before."  
  
"What?" Kagome asked again, before she finally seemed to clue in. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "I forgot about that, actually." Then, her face grew a little more somber. "It doesn't seem to matter anymore, and I know why you were mad, it's just. . . you didn't even listen to me." Then, she looked up, and grabbed Inuyasha into a hug. "But I missed you so much! I missed all of you, and you have no idea how good it feels to be back with you guys. How did you find me? I felt the shards you have, and I knew you were heading straight for me. . ."  
  
During the reunions, Sesshoumaru had taken it upon himself to remain as unobtrusive as possible. When he noticed Kikyou lingering some distance away, he walked to stand next to Kagome, and made a gesture towards the figure half-hidden in the trees.  
  
"Kikyou helped us find you," Inuyasha explained gruffly, as Kagome's eyes narrowed. "She's. . . she's different, since that night of the swarm. It's like-"  
  
"Kikyou?" Kagome interrupted, feeling a sinking sensation in her stomach. Kikyou's appearance never led to good things, in her experience. "What?"  
  
Looking nervous, Kikyou emerged from the trees to meet Kagome's wary eyes with her own. "Hello," she said boldly. "I am glad that you are well."  
  
"Hi," Kagome replied, unable to keep the suspicion out of her voice. However, when she came closer, Kagome did feel something different. . . Kikyou was different.  
  
Kagome's eyes widened, and she searched the woman's face. It was more like her own than ever, she realized. It was like looking at herself, but older, with more scars and defenses.  
  
And more loneliness, Kagome realized.  
  
Inuyasha shifted uneasily between the two as the silence grew longer. He was reminded of too many occasions where being between the two women had led to much pain and suffering for him.  
  
Finally, Kagome exhaled, and nodded. "Hi, Kikyou," she replied, extending her hand in greeting. Feeling a wave of relief wash over her, Kikyou smiled.  
  
Inuyasha looked at Sesshoumaru, who was watching the proceedings with an impassive eye. The hanyou cleared his throat meaningfully, and waited for Kagome to look at him.  
  
"What exactly is that bastard doing here?" he asked.  
  
Said bastard flicked his amber gaze towards his brother, and then made a quiet sound of derision. Kagome turned to Inuyasha and crossed her arms over her chest. "Excuse me, but Sesshoumaru is my friend."  
  
"Keh! He's not your friend!" Inuyasha retorted. "He's tried to kill you! He's tried to kill us all!"  
  
At that, Kagome heaved a sigh. "Yeah, Inuyasha. In case you haven't noticed, we all seem to have a weird way of making friends," she reasoned. "Some people have common interests. We just met through attempted murder," she said firmly. "That necklace you're wearing isn't just a fashion statement."  
  
Sango looked a bit worried at the idea of Kagome being friends with such a dangerous youkai, but since he didn't seem to intend any harm at the moment, she threw her two cents in. "Um, technically, I was trying to kill you when we met, Inuyasha."  
  
Then, Miroku stepped up as well, and turned to the glowering hanyou. "And if I remember correctly, you tried to kill me when we first met."  
  
Shippou decided to contribute as well. "I didn't try to kill anyone," he offered, "but I tried to take stuff from you guys."  
  
Inuyasha plopped himself down and huffed in disgruntlement. "I still hate you," he seethed at Sesshoumaru. "Don't even fucking think about taking my sword or anything. We all know that's what you're really after." Then, Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh, no WAY." He turned to Kagome with wide eyes. "There is no way he's coming with us."  
  
"I no longer want that sword," Sesshoumaru replied, finally sick of being referred to as though absent. "Why on earth would I want to travel with you, idiot?" he continued. "You embody all the worst qualities of youkai and human: no self-control, and a deeply offensive personal odor."  
  
At that, Inuyasha leapt to his feet, and drew Tetsusaiga. "Oh that does it, I'm gonna fucking smear you all over this forest."  
  
Sesshoumaru drew Toukijin with an insulting laziness. "Fine, try," he murmured. "Wake me up when you have finished." The two brothers faced each other, one coldly disdainful, the other with an almost palpable aura of righteous anger.  
  
"Stop it!" Kagome bellowed, completely fed up. "I'm so sick of this ridiculous urge you two have to whip your swords out all the time!" She planted her hands on her hips, and glared at them alternately. "Fine. They're equally impressive! Inuyasha's is pathetic at first, but grows really big. And Sesshoumaru's brings people to life. Now stick them back in your waistbands, and shut the hell up!" she raged.  
  
Kagome was puzzled by the sudden silence that descended in the clearing. Inuyasha looked completely stunned, and stared at her with some unidentifiable expression on his face.  
  
Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, looked bemused. The stunned silence following Kagome's unintentional double-entendres only lengthened.  
  
"And you," Kagome mumbled, turning to Sesshoumaru. "Why are you laughing at me? What's so damn funny?"  
  
Suddenly, the stillness was compounded by everyone else's confusion. They all wondered how Sesshoumaru's blank expression could possibly be interpreted as laughter.  
  
"What is it?" she demanded wearily of no one in particular. Then she noticed that Miroku was bent double, clutching his stomach in suppressed laughter. Sango was blushing. Next to her, Shippou was shaking his head. "What?" she repeated.  
  
Kikyou looked puzzled. "Um," she began haltingly, "have I missed. . ." Then, her dark eyes widened, and she pressed a hand to her mouth. "Oh, I s- see." Then, to Kagome's chagrin, Kikyou emitted what sounded disconcertingly like a snicker.  
  
As she watched their reactions, Kagome went back over what she'd said. Sesshoumaru saw the second she caught it, because her blush spread rapidly over her cheeks, and her eyes bugged out.  
  
Kagome started walking away, limbs stiff with embarrassment. "I'm just going to go over here," she murmured numbly, gesturing towards a thick grove of trees in the distance that would hide her from their laughing eyes. "Call me when we have to kill some stuff." They all watched Kagome walk off into the trees. Sango nudged Miroku in the ribs with her foot as he collapsed on the ground, gasping.  
  
"Mine isn't pathetic!" Inuyasha suddenly yelled, stunning everyone in the clearing. He blinked. "I mean, Tetsusaiga is a good sword!"  
  
That set Miroku off again, and prompted a long-suffering look from Shippou. When Miroku finally recovered himself, he got back to his feet and nudged Sango with his elbow. "Swords may be impressive, but they certainly cannot compare with the length of my staff," he remarked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.  
  
The monk's vulgar comments were sadly cut short, however, when he ducked to avoid Sango's enormous Flying Bone.  
  
**********  
  
"Kagome." Sesshoumaru walked through the dense growth of trees and then came to a stop in front of her, waiting for her to respond.  
  
"Go away," Kagome muttered darkly from where she leaned, hidden, against a tree trunk. "I've never been so embarrassed."  
  
"I will be leaving soon," Sesshoumaru interrupted, apparently willing to disregard her complete humiliation. Kagome looked up, and then patted the grass next to her. When he sat down, he was a little surprised that Kagome leaned in against him as though it were a completely natural thing for her to do. He was even more surprised at how right it felt. Sesshoumaru wrapped an arm around Kagome, pulling her closer.  
  
"Okay," she replied quietly. "So. . . when will I see you again?"  
  
Sesshoumaru thought about it for a little while. "In a week or so," he murmured. "It will be the new moon, and Inuyasha will be even more useless than usual."  
  
Kagome regarded him in surprise. "You know about that?"  
  
"Of course," Sesshoumaru snorted. "We shared a father. How could I not know?"  
  
"Oh. Well, okay. That's not too long at all." Suddenly, Sesshoumaru found Kagome was in his lap, and sucking on his lower lip. He drew her close and kissed her as though they had all the time in the world. When they separated, she blinked at him uncertainly. "You. . . you're not going to go kissing anyone else, are you?"  
  
Sesshoumaru looked at her. "Not if you don't."  
  
"I won't," Kagome confirmed quickly, wrapping her arms around him and settling against him with a sigh. "So don't you dare."  
  
**********  
  
"Something's up with those two," Inuyasha mumbled to himself, glaring in the direction in which Sesshoumaru had followed Kagome. They were out of sight, and Inuyasha had the suspicion that Sesshoumaru might be trying to kill her. That bastard. "He's acting completely weird. Since when does he interact with humans?"  
  
The corner of Sango's mouth quirked upward slightly. "He sometimes has that little girl with him. Who knows?" she replied matter-of-factly. Nearby, Shippou and Miroku were having some sort of conversation that ceased abruptly whenever she came within hearing range. Kikyou had gone off somewhere to meditate, leaving Inuyasha and Sango to wait for Kagome's return.  
  
"Keh! It's completely bizarre," Inuyasha grunted impatiently. "Why the hell is Sesshoumaru willing to help her? And he doesn't seem to want to kill me as much as usual. It's giving me the creeps." The hanyou shook his head, completely confused by the lack of maiming that usually accompanied his encounters with Sesshoumaru. "Something tells me that Kagome's got a lot of explaining to do."  
  
Sango looked speculatively in the direction where Sesshoumaru and Kagome had disappeared, and smiled a small, puzzled smile.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note:  
  
Thanks for your patience! I finally have gotten this out. Whew. So long! I'm sorry if I this chapter wasn't what you were expecting, but I hope it was okay anyway. Hello to plot advancement.  
  
Anyway, I want to thank Tsukitani, Miara, Wombat, Kii, Ookami-chan, Crash, and all the nice people who have left reviews.  
  
I will be getting fixed up versions of chapter 8 and 9 up soon.  
  
Post date: March 16, 2004.  
  
Edited March 21, 2004 for clarity and sneaky errors. Thanks sashlea and Indygodusk for pointing some things out that I took for granted! 


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